Carnegie Mellon University

Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

    To equip all students across Carnegie Mellon with an understanding of technological change, Carnegie Mellon offers a unique undergraduate minor in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development -- also known as "I Double E" -- a program of studies to give students a comprehensive intellectual framework with which to interpret the impact of technological change on their careers.

    The pace of technological change has been steadily increasing over the last 100 to 200 years, if not longer.  The ability of nations to grow and prosper economically is dependent on their ability to harness the forces of technological change.  Today it is common to speak of the knowledge economy in which the success of firms depends on their ability to manage innovation and technological change.  Regions all aspire to be the next Silicon Valley and enact all kinds of policies to lure and support innovative firms.   

    Technological change pervades daily life, influencing nearly every decision. The goal of the minor in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development is to equip students to understand the forces that create technological change in order to prepare them to address these issues as decision makers, managers, policy analysts, scholars and technologists.

    The minor has been created to service students that are interested in entrepreneurship, the management of innovation, economic development, and technology policy. The minor is available to undergraduate students in all colleges.  It is composed of courses offered in various departments and colleges throughout the university.  It is overseen by staff in the Department of Social & Decision Sciences of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences