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Building the Ohio Innovation Economy: Summary of a Symposium (2013)

Chapter: DAY 2: Welcome and Introduction

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Suggested Citation:"DAY 2: Welcome and Introduction." National Research Council. 2013. Building the Ohio Innovation Economy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13538.
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DAY 2

Welcome and Introduction

David Morgenthaler
Morgenthaler Ventures

Mr. Morgenthaler welcomed participants to the second day of the symposium. He said that in addition to his own work as a venture capitalist, he is a member of President’s Circle of the National Academies, which advises the presidents of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, and a member of the Academies’ STEP Board, where he has served for many years. “My own interest,” he said, “is that what happened to the Rust Belt cities of the U.S. should not happen to the U.S. I’m trying to make sure that does not happen, and this conference is part of that effort.”

Mr. Morgenthaler reminded the audience that the National Academies study on state and regional innovation policy is taking place in various locations around the country. “We’re reviewing the state, regional, and Federal efforts to once again develop a manufacturing base in the Rust Belt cities and address critical national needs, such as those of renewable energy.” The study is also identifying best practices among state and regional innovation programs to develop and reinforce high-tech clusters. “We’ve all realized that once we’ve gotten all the food we need to eat, we eagerly go out and buy the new iPads and iPods and other innovations of the world. This is driving our economy, and we want to make sure our regions are in the lead as innovators.”

Mr. Morgenthaler offered a brief review of his own productive career, in which he began as a mechanical engineer at MIT and evolved through numerous entrepreneurial activities to founding the Cleveland venture capital firm he still leads, Morgenthaler Ventures. “In 1950,” he recalled, “Cleveland was king of world. It had world-class manufacturing facilities. In 1957, when I was involved with a company headquartered in Birmingham, England, Cleveland was treated by these people

Suggested Citation:"DAY 2: Welcome and Introduction." National Research Council. 2013. Building the Ohio Innovation Economy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13538.
×

with great respect and as an equal. We had 50 of the Fortune 500 headquarters, and were one of the leading manufacturing centers of the world.”

MISSING TWO INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS

Cleveland was so strong during the 1940s and 1950s, he suggested, that it was slow to respond when change came. The area had a powerful economic driver in the automobile, from 1900 to 1960, “and unfortunately the region rode it for another 40 years without recognizing that we had missed two new industrial revolutions, the electronics revolution and the biotech revolution. We are trying belatedly but very sensibly to make up for that now. We’re making investments to maintain the level of economic activity that we’ve become accustomed to, and to adapt to the changing global economy. I’m pleased with the commitment shown in this meeting to develop the strategies and policies to restore Ohio as an economic engine and a leader in innovation.”

Mr. Morgenthaler thanked the sponsors of the meeting, including the Department of Energy, the Economic Development Administration, the Technology Innovation Program of NIST, and especially the Cleveland Foundation, the lead sponsor. “We in this region can give profound thanks to our foundations who have stepped up as our corporations have gradually slid away. The foundations have done far more than could have been expected from them, and the Cleveland Foundation has been the leader.” They had been joined by the George Gund Foundation, he said, “and a great many additional supporting sponsors and organizers.”

Suggested Citation:"DAY 2: Welcome and Introduction." National Research Council. 2013. Building the Ohio Innovation Economy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13538.
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Page 94
Suggested Citation:"DAY 2: Welcome and Introduction." National Research Council. 2013. Building the Ohio Innovation Economy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13538.
×
Page 95
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Since 1991, the National Research Council, under the auspices of the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, has undertaken a program of activities to improve policymakers' understandings of the interconnections of science, technology, and economic policy and their importance for the American economy and its international competitive position. The Board's activities have corresponded with increased policy recognition of the importance of knowledge and technology to economic growth.

One important element of STEP's analysis concerns the growth and impact of foreign technology programs. U.S. competitors have launched substantial programs to support new technologies, small firm development, and consortia among large and small firms to strengthen national and regional positions in strategic sectors. Some governments overseas have chosen to provide public support to innovation to overcome the market imperfections apparent in their national innovation systems. They believe that the rising costs and risks associated with new potentially high-payoff technologies, and the growing global dispersal of technical expertise, underscore the need for national R&D programs to support new and existing high-technology firms within their borders.

Similarly, many state and local governments and regional entities in the United States are undertaking a variety of initiatives to enhance local economic development and employment through investment programs designed to attract knowledge-based industries and grow innovation clusters. These state and regional programs and associated policy measures are of great interest for their potential contributions to growth and U.S. competitiveness and for the "best practice" lessons that they offer for other state and regional programs. STEP's project on State and Regional Innovation Initiatives is intended to generate a better understanding of the challenges associated with the transition of research into products, the practices associated with successful state and regional programs, and their interaction with federal programs and private initiatives. The study seeks to achieve this goal through a series of complementary assessments of state, regional, and federal initiatives; analyses of specific industries and technologies from the perspective of crafting supportive public policy at all three levels; and outreach to multiple stakeholders. Building the Ohio Innovation Economy: Summary of a Symposium explains the of the study, which is to improve the operation of state and regional programs and, collectively, enhance their impact.

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