U.S. State Department & Commerce Department Delegation Visits CMU Campus

On February 16, 2022, Metro21 presented "Smart Cities Initiatives for Economic Competitiveness & Sustainability" to the U.S. State Department & Commerce Department Delegation at Carnegie Mellon University.

This visit was organized by the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service (USFCS) team that facilitated the selection of Mill 19 for the first ever U.S. / European Tech Summit in the fall.  This team has also provided great support to CMU start-ups ranging from Astrobotic to Argo AI. 

This visit was part of a broader strategy to build stronger relationships with Eastern European nations—building both commercial and scientific initiatives.   This multi-city visit by the delegation from Bulgaria is focused on two areas emerging energy technologies—particularly storage, batteries, grid and nuclear and smart city innovations and strategies.

Feedback from the USFCS is that the delegation is a dialogue—hearing some key strategic insights on emerging technology and innovation pathways and the emerging frontier that can stimulate discussion.

USFCS also indicated that the delegation is interested in the Pittsburgh renaissance and the key lessons from that transformation.  Those points will be a key element of Provost Garrett’s comments but elements related to the economic development related to these technologies would likely be well received.