Think Tank Capability

Dr. Susan J. Duggan, founder and CEO of the Silicon Valley World Internet Center, an internet industry think tank in Palo Alto from 1995 through 2010, is now CEO of Smart World Center, a think tank capability for bringing technology solutions to the world.  Sue worked with the agricultural industry and the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California to develop several think tank sessions tackling the thorny issues of agricultural water use on the Central California Coast, as well as sessions of food safety and commercialization of new technologies for Ag.  

The first session was produced on April 15, 2011, at Hartnell College in Salinas, in partnership with Hartnell, the Grower-Shipper Association and Project 17.  

The second session, focused on remediation technologies for nitrates in water, was held at Hartnell's Alisal Campus on August 19, 2011.  

The third session again held at Hartnell's Alisal Campus on March 23, 2012, attempted to delineate the needs in the food safety arena for improved solutions in the areas of quick tests on crops and fresh produce and washes and rinses in processing.

The fourth session was the second in a series on food safety issues in the agricultural sector, this Think Tank Session encouraged participants to discuss what technology solutions have worked, been dismissed, and should be re-considered.

The fifth session was a Project 17 International sponsored an invitation-only commercialization planning session with assistance from the Agricultural Research Service and the Naval Post Graduate School. 

IMG 0790

The sixth session was the third to address the issue of agricultural nitrates in regional water.  Presenters included Ms. Jocelyn of Rio Farms who outlined key issues around nitrates in water and launched the group into an examination of the obstacles to current solutions.  Dr. Fatemah Shirazi, CEO of Microvi Biotechnologies Inc., presented a solution that extracts nitrates from water quickly and has proven to be effective in other industries.  


Copyright Barich Business Services 2012                Barich Business Services  831-462-1413  Project 17  is partially funded by a contract from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA’s funding should not be construed as an endorsement of any products, opinions, or services. All SBA-funded projects are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis.