First Online Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program Launched

In today’s economic climate, knowing how to foster innovation and entrepreneurship is essential to standing out above the crowd. Faculty at Stanford’s engineering and business schools believe innovation can be taught and together offer a unique approach to teaching entrepreneurship. That knowledge will be made available online for the first time in the new Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate.

Professionals around the world will be able to access Stanford faculty and Silicon Valley experts as they learn essential skills and effective strategies for working in and managing innovative organizations. An engaging digital experience has been developed by the Stanford Center for Professional Development at the School of Engineering and Stanford GSB to deliver the course content. Registration is now open for the first course, Marketing Innovations. A free webinar about the course will be held from 10 to 11 am Pacific Time, September 19. Tuition is $995 for each course. Additional courses will be launching throughout 2012 and 2013.

Participants may enroll in just a single course or earn the professional certificate from Stanford by completing any 8 of 12 courses on topics including prototyping, marketing, social media, innovation strategy, and entrepreneurship. Courses are taught by Stanford faculty, drawing on instructors from the graduate school of business, the engineering school, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the d.school), as well as Silicon Valley industry leaders, using highly interactive and occasionally unconventional methods.

The program is led by faculty directors Robert Sutton, a professor of management science and engineering at the School of Engineering, and Hayagreeva Rao, professor of organizational behavior and human resources at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “We believe the online lectures and experiences that we have designed will not only increase participants’ skills, but increase their creative confidence,” says Sutton.

Entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as professionals from startups, Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit teams, and the public sector, will find the program to be practical and impactful. Participants will develop the skills to become catalysts for change as they learn how to foster innovation throughout their organizations. The program offers an in-depth understanding of the factors that create innovation and, for many, the certificate provides a first-time opportunity to access Stanford’s world-renowned faculty and research. Whether this is someone’s first class in innovation or a chance to cultivate a deeper understanding and practice of innovation, participants will learn how to use innovative thinking for personal and professional success.