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OCR for page 39
Welcome
Charles Wessner
The National Academies
Dr. Wessner welcomed the participants, noting that some had travelled to
wintery Washington, DC, from as far away as Brazil and Hong Kong. This sym-
posium, he noted, is part of an ongoing study of State and Regional Innovation
Policies by the National Academies' Board on Science, Technology, and Eco-
nomic Policy (STEP).1
STEP is not only assessing how well the states and regions in the United
States is doing, Dr. Wessner explained, but also it seeks to understand the strate-
gies of other nations. "The time when we had no need to look outside our borders
to understand best practices in innovation has long since passed," he said. For
this reason, STEP is also undertaking a study of Comparative National Innova-
tion Policies.
STEP has been particularly interested in the topic of innovation clusters.
Here, the methods and experiences of various U.S. states as well as that of other
nations offer valuable lessons on how to convert the $150 billion the federal gov-
ernment invests annually in research into new products and processes for U.S.
and global markets.
1The STEP Board is conducting a series of symposia and workshops as part of a study called
"Competing in the 21st Century: Best Practice in State and Regional Innovation Initiatives." The
goal of this study is to identify best practices of private and public programs to strengthen indus-
tries, advance new technologies, and meet critical national needs. For summaries of some previous
symposia, see National Research Council, Innovation Policies for the 21st Century: Report of a
Symposium, Charles W. Wessner, ed., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2007, and
National Research Council, Understanding Research, Science and Technology Parks: Global Best
Practices--Summary of a Symposium, Charles W. Wessner, ed., Washington, DC: The National
Academies Press, 2009.
39
OCR for page 40
40 CLUSTERING FOR 21ST CENTURY PROSPERITY
Dr. Wessner thanked the National Academies' partners in the regional inno-
vation initiative for their contributions. Without the "inspiration and encourage-
ment" of colleagues at the Association of University Research Parks, the meeting
could not have been held, he said. He also thanked the Department of Energy,
the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Economic Development
Administration of the Department of Commerce, as well as the Heinz Foundation,
IBM, and Dow Corning for their sponsorship.
