Opening Keynote
The Illinois Innovation Opportunity
Dr. Mirkin introduced Governor Pat Quinn, noting that he had created the state’s first Innovation Council to help promote technology-based economic development. The governor was honored as Governor of the Year in 2011 by the biotechnology industry organization. He was sworn in as governor in 2009 and elected to a full term in 2010.
The Honorable Patrick Quinn
Governor of Illinois
Governor Quinn began by thanking Northwestern University and its innovation partners “in joining together on the mission of a lifetime.” He stressed the importance of innovation for the country and the state in stimulating an entrepreneurial economy and helping the universities, research labs, and innovation-based companies to work together.
When Governor Quinn took office in 2009, “in a very tough economy,” he pressed for a public works bill “in its broadest form” that would go beyond the traditional targets of highways and bridges. “We believe in that,” he said, “because we are a transportation center, but we also wanted to build an information superhighway. So I insisted that part of our capital bill include money for broadband deployment.” The state already had a broadband deployment council, which he had chaired as lieutenant governor, learning “how important it is to have everybody in and nobody left out of access to high-speed internet.” He noted that the bill to construct the interstate highway system in the 1950s “had barely passed,” indicating how difficult it can be to see the ultimate benefits of technological innovation. Similarly, he said, polls indicate that only 1 to 2 percent of voters feel that broadband construction should be a public priority. “But I feel that it’s essential for our state to be a leader in this area.”
The public works bill resulted in about $70 million in grant money for the state and was leveraged into 18 different grants. As the broadband work was progressing, he saw an article by the columnist Tom Friedman that described the importance of “gigabyte communities” using “ultra-high-speed Internet” a hundred times faster than what is available today. These communities, Friedman wrote, especially when located around universities, would offer researchers the chance to develop new IT applications, and in turn stimulate job creation. The governor decided to use $8 or 9 million of the grant money to hold a “gigabyte competition,” which he announced in his State of the State speech in 2012. It challenges communities in Illinois to submit ideas on how they would take advantage of hyper-fast broadband were it available.
The state, through the initiative of its Innovation Council, has also created an open data initiative. The goal is to put all state government data on line and make it freely available, along with data of the city of Chicago, Cook County, and eventually other local governments. The initiative will also encourage competitions and other opportunities to develop applications.
To simulate biomedical innovations the state has created a “medical district” in the shadow of four large hospitals: the University of Illinois, Veterans Jesse Brown, Rush University Hospital, and Stroger Public Hospital, all located near downtown and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The district has existed in law for other purposes since 1941. The current plan, he said, is to introduce fast broadband access into the mix “to help spark innovation” among the hospitals and the large pharmaceutical companies, including Baxter, Abbott, Astellas, and Takada. He said that the International Biotechnology Convention, which Illinois has hosted twice and will host again in 2013, would be an opportunity to bring innovative people and ideas together.
To strengthen STEM education, a Pathways Initiative had been designed with major firms, universities, and schools to encourage young people to embrace science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This program, also, was bolstered by the emphasis on broadband access and the development of digital educational tools. The state had already laid some 4,100 miles of fiber optic cable to provide online opportunities to school districts in remote areas.
The state has many programs to promote renewable energy sources and reduce carbon output, including installation of about 270 charging stations for electric vehicles in metropolitan Chicago and additional stations Downstate. Through competitive bidding, the state had purchase 15 electric vehicles from Mitsubishi and placed high priority on reducing reliance on petroleum. The city of Chicago had more LEED-certified buildings than any other U.S. city, said Governor Quinn, and one feature of the public works bill was to require LEED certification for new public buildings.
The state was active in generating its own renewable energy as well. One strategy, he said, was to use photovoltaic sources on hot days to “shave the peak” off utility usage. This strategy can reduce the need for expensive generating capacity that might be used only a few days a year. Wind energy is also a priority, the governor said; Illinois had erect 404 wind turbines during
2011—more than any state. Because the state is on the east side of the Mississippi River, he said, it is well situated to send electricity generated by solar, wind, and biomass sources to the large populations centers in the East.
He concluded by offering his own definition of an innovation. “It is people seeing something and seeing how to do it better,” he proposed. “That is the purpose of the gigabyte community concept, and of the state Innovation Coalition, and the Science and Technology Coalition.” He closed by urging the participants to gather on a regular basis, and to continue their support for technology-based innovation.
