New Coalition Is Launched to Speed Tech. Innovation

A new nonprofit group that aims to convene experts from the nonprofit, government, academic, and business sectors for the sake of expediting technological innovations is tackling early-childhood reading, and science and math education as its first challenges.

ConvergeUS , a Washington-based organization, was launched last month by executives from the social-networking platform Twitter and from TechNet , a business-backed advocate for technology innovation. The group will hold an annual fall summit, develop an online clearinghouse, and carry out its own projects, all for the goal of “purposeful applications of technology and social media,” according to a press release.

Among its first partners announced Feb. 23 is the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, a coalition that focuses on improving reading proficiency, and the Silicon Valley Education Foundation, which directs its efforts to raising student math and science performance. The group will announce a third partnership soon, the organizers said, and will plan to take on three new challenges every subsequent year. Those could include more education initiatives as well as...