Mass. Tech. Collaborative Releases 3rd Innovation Index

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) has released its third annual Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy. The report tracks and explores the implications of 30 performance indicators on the long-term growth and stability of the Massachusetts economy. When statistics are available, Massachusetts is compared to its “leading competitor states” of California, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.

This year’s report includes a special analysis of electronic commerce in Massachusetts. The section highlights policy implications of e-commerce and proposes several recommendations for industry, academia, and government.

After preparing the Index for three years, MTC offers two new sections which demonstrate the relationship or relevance of the Index to state science, technology and development policies. “Lessons from the Index” highlights the strengths and weaknesses found through the process. “Implications for Action” focuses on three  concerns for future policy development:

• a continued shortfall of skilled workers in the face of an extremely tight labor market;
• a constraint on the ability of young, entrepreneurial companies to grow into mature, larger businesses; and
• the challenges to the state’s R&D base posed by federal policies and funding decisions.

The MTC Index reports indicators from primary and secondary sources in nine key industry clusters, which represent 24 percent of the state’s non-government employment and 35 percent of private-sector payroll. One measure, Mutual Fund Exports, was dropped from last year’s study.

For each indicator, MTC explains the significance of the measure, graphically presents the data, describes the state’s performance, and interprets the implications of the indicator’s trends for the Massachusetts economy.

Copies of 1999 Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy, a 56-page, full-color report, may be obtained from MTC via their website: http://www.mtpc.org or by calling 508/870-0312.