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NewBoCo’s Goal: Computer Science Education in Every Single School in Iowa

Rob Merritt July 11, 2018

Here at NewBoCo we have a pretty simple goal: computer science education in every single school in Iowa. We support tech education to give Iowans of all ages the skills necessary to thrive in an increasingly technical world. That’s why we partnered with Code.org, a national nonprofit, to offer free professional development workshops to train current K-12 teachers how to

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Intrapreneur Academy: Agile Quarter Recap

Aaron Horn June 28, 2018

Last week’s workshop on What Our Customers Need and Want wrapped up the Agile quarter for the inaugural Intrapreneur Academy cohort. Following the workshop, the cohort had a lunch and learn session with Collective Data, a company working on their own Agile transformation, and held a group retro over the entire quarter. What Our Customers Need and Want — Nate Adams The

Four people sit at a table with various papers and coffee mugs. They are listening to a speaker at an Intrapreneur Academy workshop.

Intrapreneur Academy: Embracing Change Recap

Aaron Horn June 25, 2018

“Welcoming” and “harnessing” are words seldom used when talking about responding to change in business. If you follow Agile principles, however, that’s exactly how you’re supposed to react to change — by embracing it with open arms. In this week’s Intrapreneur Academy workshop, “Embracing Change,” the cohort learned how to harness change for their competitive advantage instead of “managing” or “enduring” it.

Four people sit at desks during a workshop. They are smiling.

Who Should I Send to Intrapreneur Academy?

Aaron Horn May 23, 2018

NewBoCo’s Intrapreneur Academy is a year-long program designed to help organizations of all types kick-start their innovation journey with in-depth trainings, immersive tours, and more on NewBoCo’s four innovation competencies: agile, culture, methods, and strategy. In Intrapreneur Academy, an organization sends a team of 3–8 people through as a team to learn more about these innovation competencies to inspire larger

Two men from Woofables give a presentation in a well lit room. The man on the left has his hand raised while speaking.

Intrapreneur Academy: Kickoff Recap

Molly Monk May 11, 2018

“Innovation” rarely brings to mind visions of local government, but the Office of the Linn County Auditor plans to change that. They joined five other teams in NewBoCo’s inaugural Intrapreneur Academy. “We joined Intrapreneur Academy because we want to set an example that innovation can occur in local government so as to encourage others and to provide a model on

Linda Barnes (left) leads a tour through Geonetric's open office plan

Intrapreneur Academy: Intro to Agile & Geonetric Tour Recap

Aaron Horn May 8, 2018

The inaugural Intrapreneur Academy started their quarter on Agile on Wednesday, April 25th with introductory workshops led by NewBoCo’s Agile Coach, Nate Adams, an immersive tour of Geonetric, and a Q&A session with Geonetric CEO, Linda Barnes. Intro to Agile — Nate Adams Agile work practices are taking organizations dealing with and within the modern world by storm. While many Agile principles

Mandy Webber presents to participants of Intrapreneur Academy seated in front of her.

Our First Quarter of 2018

Molly Monk April 17, 2018

Updates on NewBoCo’s work in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Education. On April 13 NewBoCo launched Intrapreneur Academy. Photo by Ben Kaplan. Once again, Iowa was at the bottom of Wallethub’s yearly study on the most innovative states. Last year, we were 44th, and now in 2018, we’ve slipped to 46th. Wallethub looked at two different areas to determine the most and least