South Carolina Releases S&T Strategic Plan

The South Carolina Technology Advisory Council (SCTAC) has released a technology strategy for the state. Creating South Carolina's Future Through Technology: Strategies for Developing a Knowledge-Based Economy grew from a 1995 strategic plan for economic development, Approaching 2000: An Economic Development Vision for South Carolina.

The technology strategy builds on the state's successes in attracting capital investments and jobs from large manufacturing companies. The plan is designed to increase the wealth-generating capacity of South Carolina's economy by making the state more competitive in supporting and expanding its base of high-growth technology companies, new knowledge-based start-up companies, and world-class scientific and engineering operations.

SCTAC recognizes that the state's current levels of technology-based business formation, R&D expenditures, preparation for knowledge-based careers, and intellectual property development are inadequate to achieve the Council's vision. The four goals and subsequent recommendations in the strategy focus on creating the business and cultural environment needed to attract, create, grow and retain world-class, knowledge-based workers and companies.

The strategy sets out four goals:

• Prepare a technology-capable work force;
• Create a business environment that is friendly to technology-intensive companies;
• Invest to expand the base of rapidly growing companies and start-up businesses; and,
• Invest in world-class university research programs that are directly linked to South Carolina industry.

Among the Council's recommendations to achieve the goals are the following:

• Establish a collaborative process to continuously convey the needs of technology-intensive industries to education providers at all levels, and institute a set of metrics to ensure success;
• Form strategic alliances to leverage and expand the technology-related support available for start-ups and other rapidly growing technology firms;
• Enact legislation that provides incentives to investors who capitalize early-stage technology commercialization funds, or make direct investments in qualified early-stage high tech companies;
• Develop technology maturation and commercialization services to support rapidly growing technology-intensive companies;
• Develop strategies for recruiting technology companies; and,
• Develop incentives to reward institutions that achieve success in linking their science and engineering research programs with the state's economic development priorities.
• The council also recommended that for the strategy to be successfully implemented that an entity be established with a strong board of directors to lead, coordinate and promote the implementation of the goals and recommendations in the technology strategy.

Creating South Carolina's Future Through Technology: Strategies for Developing a Knowledge-Based Economy can be located on the web at www.state.sc.us/sctac For information on creating a state science and technology strategic plan, call SSTI at 614/421 SSTI (7784) to order its publication Science and Technology Strategic Planning: Creating Economic Opportunity.