History
The first CONNECT organisation was started in 1985 at the University of California, San Diego. It was created on the initiative of the local business community and sought to redirect an ailing local economy into the knowledge-based era. Since then, over 600 new high tech companies and 120,000 new jobs have been created in connection with the San Diego network. In addition, new networks have grown up inside and outside the borders of the US.
Global CONNECT
Established in 2003 within UCSD, Global CONNECT seeks to work with regions around the world to understand and further develop their innovation systems. The Global CONNECT membership network then applies the principles of the regional CONNECT model to an international matrix of regions and companies to achieve similar benefits on a global scale. Today the CONNECT model has been replicated in Scotland, Yorkshire, Midlands UK, Sweden, New Zealand, Jordan, Seattle, Estonia, Norway, Denmark and Taiwan.