The Robert Robinson Taylor Network, Inc.
The Robert Robinson Taylor Network (RRTN) is a non-profit 501(C)(3)educational foundation comprised of a global network of partners connecting youth and professionals to a cultural legacy of achievement in architecture, science, technology, engineering and math (ASTEM). The goal is to create cultural and economic impact through innovation, invention and entrepreneurship. RRTN’s mission is to increase the number of underrepresented populations in architecture, science, technology, and engineering fields, while specifically increasing the number of technology entrepreneurs and companies founded by these individuals.
RRTN is guided by a Board of Directors, Leadership Council and Professional Advisory Councils. RRTN was founded in 1985 by students at MIT and separately incorporated in the name and memory of Robert Robinson Taylor. Over the years RRTN has piloted programs with youth through various partners to refine its model and experiment with new concepts.
Robert Robinson Taylor is the first known black graduate of MIT. He graduated in 1892 and went on to become the first professionally-educated, black architect in America and the main architect of the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. In the spirit of Robert Robinson Taylor, RRTN values excellence, “learn by doing”, entrepreneurial and inventive spirit, passionate and creative self-expression, integrity and social responsibility . We nurture an “enterprising culture” of innovation, invention and entrepreneurship. We strive to create “disruptive technologies businesses” which will have a long-lasting global impact.
Engine of Innovation
RRTN’s engine for innovation is to uniquely tie together individuals and communities to their cultural legacy of impact and invention. This will create new solutions for today’s problems by delivering new products and services to the global marketplace. Through a market-driven, customer-focused process we research, pilot, scale and disseminate digitally disruptive solutions and their by-products.
RRTN is modeling the way by:
using culture to mediate and enhance the architecture, science,technology, engineering and math (ASTEM) teaching and learning environment for youth and professionals of color, and ultimately to engage the attention of all;
- employing a cloud network and Software as a Service (SaaS) paradigm to connect communities worldwide, deliver accelerated business value and create a self-sustaining business model;
- developing a collective intellectual property commons for new venture and product development; and
- establishing a replicable framework of opportunity creation that can be adopted and adapted by other communities.
ADIAS
Arc of Discovery, Innovation, Architecture and Science (ADIAS) – an integrated, content rich, network of services centered around a living archive of black cultural achievement in ASTEM. The open-source, multi-purpose platform includes a public multimedia timeline, live media broadcast, electronic media journal, private communities, digital design studio, online mall, open course exchange, community node sites, and real-time exchanges with popular social and business networking sites. Learn more here…
LAIV Network
RRTN engages in five programmatic areas which draw on the contributions, research, and achievements of black innovators in architecture, science, and technology.
- Leadership – an advocacy, research, and marketing think-tank, a society of influential leaders, and a digital media center for monitoring, supporting, guiding and communicating the advancement of RRTN mission, its target audience, and their impact on society.
- Archive – an integrated, content-rich, network of services centered around a living archive of cultural achievement and impact in ASTEM. A digital cultural heritage collection of images, video, audio, documents, and artifacts related to ASTEM past, present and future.
- Institute – a distributed online and offline research and development educational program engaging youth and professionals in the end-to-end process of innovation, invention and entrepreneurship. The Institute comprises of XStudio, Taylor Labs, Academy, Go LAIV Sessions, Open Course Exchange (OCX), and Course Catalog.
- Ventures – a venture-backed incubator and technology transfer agent which provides access to IP, financing, education, mentors and services in order to start and grow new technology-based businesses managed by youth and professionals.
- Network – a globally connected, federated network of node sites, business partners, and online communities utilizing a unique cloud based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology platform to research, archive, share, collaborate, and deliver content and programs germane to RRTN.
RRTN’s sustainable business model requires all program areas to create revenue-generating products, services and ventures by leveraging its unique archive, IP and network of resources in disruptive new ways.
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