innovation

Ohio unveiled the Columbus Innovation District this week, marking the third such announcement in less than a year, with a $100 million commitment from JobsOhio, the state’s nonprofit economic development corporation. Other partners in the Columbus initiative include Ohio State University, which will contribute $650 million, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, with a $350 million commitment. The district is intended to bring together globally recognized education and healthcare research institutions to help create in-demand jobs and fuel $3 billion in economic impact for Columbus and Ohio over the next 10 years.

A working paper from the Innovation Growth Lab (IGL) series featuring researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition provides causal evidence on the effectiveness of innovation vouchers and adds to the argument for implementing small-scale government funding mechanisms like innovation vouchers. Innovation vouchers are designed to link small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with external knowledge resources to promote small-scale innovations.

Already weakened before the pandemic, a new report from the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) finds that the health and readiness of the U.S. defense industrial base — composed of manufacturers, technology innovators, and systems integrators, research organizations, and suppliers — faces particularly large obstacles in the areas of innovation and supply chain. Assessed along eight different metrics, NDIA assigns an overall letter grade indicating the health and readiness of the defense industrial base. This year’s report assigned the final grade of a “C,” which is a passing grade, but leaves much room for improvement.

Across the country, the governors have begun delivering their State of the State addresses, an annual ritual where they have the opportunity to review where the state’s economy stands and preview their plans for the coming year. This year’s remarks reflect the dire conditions most states are experiencing with the pandemic, economic fallout, racial strife and national political upheaval. Despite the heavy focus on states’ efforts to respond to the pandemic, governors have struck a hopeful note and are focusing on recovery. Some governors have noted that the fallout in their state was not as severe as they originally anticipated and there are resources for new initiatives. Some, like Arizona and Virginia are considering gaming revenue to boost their budgets, while legalization of marijuana is being pursued in Connecticut, Kentucky (medical marijuana) and Virginia.

Ohio’s governor and other state leaders this week announced the creation of a new Cleveland Innovation District, with the state of Ohio, through the Ohio Development Services Agency (DSA), JobsOhio and the Cleveland Clinic committing a combined $565 million to the new district. The new district will bring together Northeast Ohio’s leading healthcare providers and education institutions with the goal of creating a pathogen center with global reach. DSA is committing to $155 million, $100 million will be in the form of a loan, the terms of which are still being finalized, and an estimated $55 million in Job Creation Tax Credits (JCTC) over a 15-year period. JobsOhio will invest $110 million and an additional $300 million will be invested by Cleveland Clinic.

Nearly 75 years ago, the head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, Vannevar Bush, published what became a seminal report in the science community. The report chronicled the necessity of basic scientific research, investment by government in science and innovation, and identified the reasons to push the limits of our own knowledge. Science, The Endless Frontier was Bush’s call for a committed relationship between government and science. In the spirit on Bush’s pioneering report, the National Academies of Science (NAS) and the Council on Competitiveness (the Council) have published reports outlining the ways in which policymakers, the private sector, and researchers can boost American innovation in the years ahead.

In nearly every research institution, there are individuals who achieve oversized impacts. In the academic environment, publications and citations were the traditional standard bearers for advancing science, engineering and discovery — unfortunately, tenure and title are still stubbornly tied to these measures in universities. Patents became the next tier for measuring performance many years ago. Beyond scientific advancement, however, a paper or patent that isn’t applied or put to practical use has little real value from the perspective of national competitiveness or economic development. 

While economic development tends to be nonpartisan at the state level, many states are limited in their ability to fund innovative programs. In order to fund efforts that may serve as part of a national development strategy, Congress should use the bipartisan support of state efforts to establish and expand federal-state development partnerships and a strategy focused on countering China’s rise in advanced industries. That is the sentiment behind a recent roadmap from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) that proposes four things Congress should do to align state efforts to an overall mission of outcompeting China.

In the largest single gift in the history of Missouri higher education, $300 million has been donated to support Missouri S&T that will enable the university to establish a new school of innovation and entrepreneurship, among other things. The benefactors are St. Louis businessman Fred Kummer, a graduate of the school who credited the education he received there with his success, and his wife.

With the general election less than one month away, SSTI has reviewed the 120 state ballot initiatives throughout the country for innovation-related issues. Education, gig workers, redistricting and issues surrounding elections and state budgets are scattered across the country and can affect the future of innovation through funding, talent and political will. Read below for coverage on the initiatives that could have an impact on different segments of the economy and the future of innovation.