Saul Kaplan is the founder and Chief Catalyst of the Business Innovation Factory and author of The Business Model Innovation Factory: How to Stay Relevant when the World Is Changing. Kaplan started BIF in 2005 with a mission to enable collaborative innovation. The non-profit is creating a real world laboratory for innovators to explore and test new business models and system level solutions in areas of high social importance including health care, education, entrepreneurship, and energy independence. Prior to the Business Innovation Factory Kaplan served as the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and as the Executive Counselor to the Governor on Economic and Community Development. Kaplan created Rhode Island’s unique innovation @ scale economic development strategy aimed at increasing the state’s capacity to grow and support an innovation economy, including an effort to turn the state’s compact geography and close knit public and private sector networks into a competitive advantage. Prior to his state leadership role in economic development Kaplan served as a Senior Strategy Partner in Accenture’s Health & Life-Science practice and worked broadly throughout the pharmaceutical, medical products, and biotechnology industry. Kaplan also spent eight years working for the Pharmaceutical Division of Eli Lilly and Company. As a Marketing Plans Manager, Kaplan assisted in developing the launch strategy and successful introduction of Prozac into the U.S. market.Kaplan shares his innovation musings on Twitter (@skap5), his blog (It’s Saul Connected) and as regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review and Bloomberg Business Week. Kaplan holds an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute focusing on the strategic management of technology and a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island.