The Symposium
Led by Wily International—a US-based team of experts in innovation methods and product development—the 2-Day Innovation Symposium features engaging presentations, workshops to develop innovation skills and networking opportunities.
The event is free of charge for all participants. Advance registration and full participation both days is required. Seating is limited to ensure a high quality experience.
Day 1: Expert Presentations + Panel Discussion
US and Namibian innovators will share their insights, lessons learned and best practices from their experiences building businesses, developing products and overcoming obstacles.
Day 2: Innovation Methods + Hands On Workshops
Our team of experts will facilitate fast-paced, hands-on workshops to gain experience and learn techniques for finding inspiration, developing solutions, making decisions and building rapid prototypes that can be applied to any problem or process.
Network + Connect
Throughout the Symposium, there will be time to network and connect with like-minded innovators, entrepreneurs and professionals in attendance.
Boost Your Skills
The Symposium is great for boosting your skills and building your résumé whether you are a student, entrepreneur or professional.
Gain knowledge and practical skills that can be applied immediately:
Learn best practices directly from experts with real world experience
Improve productivity, solve big challenges, and foster innovation
Move ideas into action
Make decisions without lengthy discussion
Test and validate ideas before investing months of work and millions of dollars
Explore effective prototyping tools and methods that meet the needs of your project
“The experience was a great way for me to learn a whole new skill set that I will definitely be applying in the future. Everyone was so honest and giving with their advice and expertise. It was invaluable.”
—Ian Broadfoot, University of Exeter
Meet the Wily Team
Eric Gorman is the founder of U.S.-based Wily LLC and has designed and facilitated hundreds of innovation workshops for Fortune 500 companies, universities, and governments. Eric also works with medical professionals, programmers, engineers, product developers and CEOs to prototype and test solutions for start-ups. Internationally, Eric has led innovation workshops in Ghana and Thailand (for USAID), the Dominican Republic, Italy and Namibia (for the U.S. State Department), and the UK (for business leaders, university professors, staff and students). He has also taught design thinking classes at Davidson College and Wake Forest University.
Julia Jackson, creates world class experiences for clients. She boasts over 25 years of experience consulting with entrepreneurs, executives, and NGOs on strategy, project management and innovation. Julia balances big ideas with a pragmatic ability to execute these creative visions. She’s passionate about working with individuals and teams to unleash their potential and has led training for students and professionals in the US, the UK, Thailand, Namibia, Italy, and the Dominican Republic. Julia’s facilitation and training strategies are featured in The Remote Design Sprint Guide—a primer written by Design Sprint creator, Jake Knapp.
Jeremy Losaw is a YLAI (Young Leaders of America) alumni and currently the Director of Engineering at Enventys Partners which is a product development and launch agency. He has delivered innovation and IoT training in the US and the Dominican Republic and has developed a six-week Internet of Things training class for coding school, Tech Talent South. He has more than ten issued patents and many products that have been launched via crowdfunding and brought to mass production. In addition, Jeremy is a former NASCAR auto racing engineer and experienced prototyper, and has contributed more than 100 articles to Inventors Digest magazine.
