DAVOS, Switzerland - Wednesday, January 26th 2011 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) are pleased to announce a new partnership aimed at furthering their complementary missions.
Under the agreement, CIGI will provide $25 million (CAD) over five years to support joint CIGI-INET activities.
Both organizations are committed to broadening and accelerating the development of innovative thinking that will lead to insights and solutions for the great economic and governance challenges of the 21st century.
* INET, founded in 2009 in response to the global financial crisis, is a non-profit organization providing fresh insight and thinking to promote changes in economic theory and practice through conferences, grants and education initiatives.
* CIGI, founded in 2001, is an independent, nonpartisan think tank addressing international governance challenges through research and policy development. It aims to develop policy innovations, create capacity and build networks, all to contribute to the achievement of a more prosperous, sustainable, equitable and peaceful world.
“The partnership between CIGI and INET is a very fortunate one because both organizations are guided by the same respect for integrity and impartiality in research,” says George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC and Founding Sponsor of INET. “This partnership will expand INET’s programs into Canada and function as a catalyst for ,and the development of research in economics and governance worldwide.”
“I think this partnership has enormous potential for two world-class organizations to bring together their unique areas of strength,” says CIGI founder and Chair Jim Balsillie. “Each of us brings something different to the table – CIGI with its focus on global governance and INET with its focus on rethinking our economic models. It’s a perfect fit.”
INET’s initiatives include: research grants designed to harness the new economic thinking that is crucial to effecting change; a campus outreach program that sees Nobel Laureates and world-renowned scholars visiting graduate students in economics to promote education, discourse and the sharing of new ideas; and an events program aimed at fostering open discussion, transparency and the amplification of fresh ideas.
Under the new partnership, these activities — including the grants and campus outreach — would be extended to Canada. As well, CIGI and INET are exploring a joint conference on the global economy to be held at CIGI’s headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. As the partnership develops, CIGI and INET will consider additional joint activities to further their common mission.
“Having the opportunity to work with Jim Balsillie, Tom Bernes and the CIGI team is very exciting,” says Dr. Robert Johnson, Executive Director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. “Our organizations, working together, possess a tremendous capacity for creative action.”
“I think this is a highly complementary partnership between CIGI and INET that will enhance the capacity of both institutions to make a major contribution toward finding solutions for the global challenges we face,” says CIGI Executive Director Thomas A. Bernes.
For more information, including a video on the partnership, please visit www.cigionline.org/INETor www.ineteconomics.org/CIGI.
The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)is an independent, nonpartisan think tank on international governance. Led by experienced practitioners and distinguished academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements. Conducting an active agenda of research, events and publications, CIGI’s interdisciplinary work includes collaboration with policy, business and academic communities around the world. CIGI was founded in 2001 by Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of RIM (Research In Motion), and collaborates with and gratefully acknowledges support from a number of strategic partners, in particular the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. For more information, please visit www.cigionline.org.
About the Institute for New Economic Thinking: Launched in October 2009 with a $50 million commitment from George Soros anddriven by the global financial crisis, the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) isdedicated to empowering and supporting the next generation of economists and scholarsin related fields through research grants, Task Force groups, academic partnerships, andconferences. INET embraces the professional responsibility to think beyond currentparadigms. Ultimately, INET is committed to broadening and accelerating thedevelopment of innovative thinking that can lead to insights into and solutions for thegreat challenges of the 21st century and return economics to its core mission of guidingand protecting society. For more information, please visit www.ineteconomics.org.
Contacts
CIGI MEDIA:
CIGI
Declan Kelly, 519-885-2444, ext. 356
Communications Specialist
dkelly@cigionline.org
INET MEDIA:
Keating & Co.
Rick Keating, 212-925-6900 or 917-767-2400
rkeating@keatingco.com
