Two Looks at Improving Cross-Border Collaboration

Regardless of their potentially arbitrary nature, the political lines separating jurisdictions can wreak havoc on a region's ability to support innovation. Whether it's a boundary between two communities, two states or two countries, these imaginary lines define real rules of commerce (e.g. by the taxes levied, property values, etc.) as well as intangible concerns and perceptions. In many places, intercommunity rivalries seem to almost spill over from the high school football fields and incapacitate the ability to achieve real change throughout a region. The spillovers of significant economic development investments often pay little attention to political boundaries.

The ritual of states chasing large automotive plants is demonstrative. The latest example is provided by Kia with Georgia shelling out $160,000 per job (one-third of which are expected to go to Alabama residents because the plant will be located within five miles of the border.) Both states were competing for the plant; some analysts argue Alabama won since it ponied up nothing to get up to 800 jobs. A collaborative approach between the two states for wooing Kia might have yielded the same choice in locations, with lower public incentive costs. Perhaps, that in turn would have freed up more funds to support education and economic development projects to sustain economic growth.

Two recent projects on opposite sides of the country are exploring ways to foster cross-border collaboration, an increasingly important requirement for competing in a global economy. We look first at the efforts of e-NC in North Carolina, then jump to San Diego and its work across international borders.

Crossing Counties and State Lines

By leveraging assets on both sides of the state line, border counties in North Carolina can become more attractive and competitive locations in technology-driven, knowledge-based economies, says a new report from e-NC Authority.

The study identifies best practices and outlines recommendations to promote collaboration and create additional wealth among neighboring regions in three rural North Carolina counties. Some of the problems facing these counties are, in part, caused by economic barriers intensified by political boundaries, the report states. This may include the historical culture and practice of states directly competing for business locations, R&D facilities and federal funding. Such challenges faced by border counties are not unique to North Carolina, the report adds.

Through a series of interviews and facilitated meetings with leaders in business, government, economic development, and higher education throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, the authors identified hurdles and developed a set of recommendations. Over the course of the interviews, three categories of initiatives that focus on technology access and innovation emerged. These include information and communication technology access, training and education, and innovation development. Existing cross-border activities on technology access and training in other states and countries were surveyed as well.

For many participants, funding was reported as a major hurdle for cross-border programs. Having a pilot phase was essential to securing an initial round of funding for several of the programs the authors reviewed. This also gave the program time to garner political support while refining program activities and goals. Participants also recommended securing funding from a variety of sources, including state, local and federal government, foundations, the private sector, and universities.

A key issue for the design of cross-border programs is the inclusion of various stakeholders, according to the study. Other lessons learned include effective leadership over a coordinated team, having formal legal entities to confront tax and infrastructure challenges, and multi-year project commitments.

The study is part of e-NC's Cross-Borders Initiative to address barriers to economic development specific to border counties. The goal is "to help facilitate and encourage the emergence of knowledgeable cross-border stakeholders, including policymakers, who can help translate new ideas for collaboration into operational pilot programs and initiatives."

The report, Creating Wealth: Regional Development Through Cross-Border Collaboration, is available at: http://www.e-nc.org/pdf/Creating_Wealth_Cross_Border_Report.pdf

Links to this paper and more than 3,000 additional TBED-related research reports, strategic plans and other papers can be found at the Tech-based Economic Development (TBED) Resource Center, jointly developed by the Technology Administration and SSTI, at http://www.tbedresourcecenter.org/.

When Boundaries are Between Nations

Borderless Innovation outlines 10 recommendations designed to enable the San Diego-Baja California region to spur local growth and prosperity. The bottom line requires a broad coalition of interests to overcome previously fragmented efforts and take the steps necessary to collaborate in creating a new Innovation Corridor of the Californias. Borderless Innovation is part of a larger effort called the Crossborder Innovation and Competitive Initiative, the current focus of the San Diego Dialogue. The Dialaogue is a program of University of California-San Diego (UCSD) Extended Studies and Public Programs.

The report analyzes parallel growth trends in specific industries on both sides of the border and seeks to explain the minimal efforts to collaborate and jointly market significant competitive clusters in high technology, science and other sectors. Borderless Innovation identifies a number of untapped capabilities and opportunities on both sides of the border, including biomedical devices, software, marine biotechnology, and aerospace and defense. The report describes the complementary institutions, organizations, technology clusters, and other elements that, when properly coordinated and leveraged, could be the impetus for even greater economic growth.

Three major findings emerged from the nearly two years of research involved in the report:

• There is a need for strong collaborative marketing efforts related to the high-value technology and innovation clusters in the region;
• Leadership from both sides of the border must collaborate on expanding research, technical assistance, professional and workforce education to assure sustainable growth and competitiveness; and,
• The crossborder region needs new social and institutional mechanisms with shared leadership, co-investment and well-orchestrated programs to build competitive capacity for this innovation corridor.

San Diego-Baja collaboration faces some challenges that are unique to international boundaries but others that can be quite common: security at the border and the cost of delays due to wait times; expansion of the global economy; infrastructure, including ports; the need to increase the number of science and engineering degrees in the region; and, perhaps most important, the challenge of trust.

“Were the region to develop a strategy to support an Innovation Corridor of the Californias, it would require a significant amount of collegiality and trust among civic leaders, policy makers, educational institutions and the private sector,” the report notes. “This means sharing timely and relevant information, frequent interactions and a commitment to one another’s future and quality of life … only with this level of trust can the region achieve its deepest integration and most promising competitive opportunities.”

To address these challenges, the report closes with 10 recommendations for redefining the crossborder region as one with the potential for borderless innovation and catalyzing a new vision for “transforming clusters of opportunity into clusters of prosperity, which improves the quality of life for all.” The recommendations are:

• Create a crossborder innovation and competitiveness center as the catalytic agent;
• Launch a crossborder program to foster scientific and technology relationships and communication;
• Provide ongoing research and analytical reports on crossborder clusters;
• Work with Baja California to establish crossborder clinical research as a precursor to growing a transregional biopharmaceutical industry;
• Promote private investor networks in the region;
• Promote “smart border” technologies and infrastructure;
• Expanding existing crossborder education and research linkages, create new ones;
• Harmonize economic, health and educational data to provide consistent reports;
• Convene a high-level working group to assess the feasibility of a California model based on the Costa Rican INBio model for balancing conservation and development; and,
• Explore broader, non-technological economic linkages.

A copy of the 53-page report is available from the Dialogue’s website, www.sandiegodialogue.org. It was made possible by funding from the State of Baja California; CENTRIS, an economic development collaborative in Tijuana; CICESE, a federally funded science and technology research center in Ensenada; the City of Chula Vista; Wells Fargo Bank; and program and development funds from UCSD’s Division of Extended Studies and Public Programs.