The University of Notre Dame, Startup South Bend-Elkhart and more than 15 community organizations and businesses will host IDEA Week from April 15 to 21 (Saturday to Friday) to highlight innovation and entrepreneurship in the region.
In addition to more than two dozen speakers and a concert with Walker Hayes on April 15, Radha Agrawal, co-founder of Daybreaker, a morning dance community with over half a million members; Jacob Brown, a former NFL player and co-founder of Varlo, an athletic apparel company; and Brad Chambers, Indiana's secretary of commerce, will speak at the event. Chambers will speak on April 17, Brown on April 19 and Agrawal on April 20.
IDEA Week is now in its fifth year and will be held entirely in-person.
Under the name "Industry Innovation Forum," Monday (April 17) will largely be devoted to how industry in the South Bend-Elkhart region is using innovation to drive growth and economic development.
Tuesday (April 18) will largely focus on how technology can help solve the global refugee and migrant crisis. Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys Gudziak, the highest-ranking Ukrainian Catholic prelate in the United States and organizer and president of Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) and last year's commencement speaker at Notre Dame, will speak remotely in the morning.
The rest of the week will contain networking events, events focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, a startup expo and a local college fair. Faculty affiliates of the Notre Dame Technology Ethics Center will discuss ChatGPT and other content-creating AI during a panel on April 19 (Wednesday) at the Studebaker 112 Building in South Bend.
IDEA Week 2023 will conclude with the McCloskey New Venture Competition, a business plan competition for Notre Dame students, alumni and members of the South Bend-Elkhart community that awards more than $400,000 in cash and in-kind prizes.
Registration to attend IDEA Week is free and open to the public.
The full slate of events, plus details on dates, times and locations, is available online at ideaweek.com. For information on the Walker Hayes concert, visit Experience Notre Dame.