Tech Equity in Action report provides insights for TBED practitioners incorporating inclusion into economic programs
Despite recent attacks on affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion, the TBED community continues to work toward broadening participation in innovation driven growth. This continuing attention may be attributable—as stated in the recently released report Tech Equity in Action—to the practical knowledge among TBED practitioners that “(e)fforts to grow local economies are hampered when sizable portions of the population are left out of this high-growth sector.” The report, published by the New Growth Innovation Network (NGIN), provides practical advice for TBED professionals who want to continue to ensure their projects are equitable and inclusive.
“Put frankly, whether one calls it DEI or not, the work must be done,” Mark Skinner, SSTI’s executive vice president, said. “Regions cannot ignore the urgent need for greater involvement in innovation among more of their population to achieve long-term competitiveness and sustained economic growth.”
Skinner added, “How one accomplishes that is an integral focus of our conference agenda in December.” More on SSTI’s annual conference, to be held Dec 10-12 in Metro Phoenix, is available here.
NGIN notes significant barriers that prevent BIPOC and women from benefitting from technology-based economies, which need to be addressed to create inclusive TBED (I-TBED) programs. These barriers include:
- Education. “Unequal educational access and opportunities have long influenced educational attainment by race, socioeconomic status, and gender…"
- Workforce. “BIPOC and women are underrepresented in the entire tech ecosystem.”
- Power. “Only 3% of tech industry board directors, 3% of tech executives, and 1% of tech founders are Black. Systems change is only able to happen when the people in power reflect the whole population.”
- Capital. “... the median seed round funding for Black women ($125,000) and Latina women ($200,000), still lags significantly behind the national median ($2,500,000).”
NGIN gathered information from interviews, secondary research, and an in-person roundtable to identify the strategies practitioners use to overcome the abovementioned barriers and create I-TBED programs. These strategies include:
- Equity First, Always. “For tech-based economic development to be inclusive, practitioners and programs need to specifically and intentionally focus on achieving equitable results.”
- Data-Driven and Data-Informed. “Defining equitable and inclusive success metrics is critical. In addition to tracking outputs like the number of workshop attendees, practitioners should also track outcomes such as the number of attendees who we helped create a business plan that received a business loan.”
- Asset-Based Approaches. “This strategy emphasizes building upon local assets such as natural resources, cultural heritage, human capital, physical infrastructure, and institutional strengths to create sustainable economic opportunities and improve quality of life for residents.”
Every local area will discover its own barriers and opportunities toward achieving I-TBED and, as a result, require customized solutions.
This article was prepared by SSTI using Federal funds under award ED22HDQ3070129 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.
inclusion, tbed