Innovation New Jersey
  • Home
  • Our Coalition
    • Contact Us
  • News
  • Resources
    • State Supports
    • Federal Supports
    • Higher Ed Supports
  • Join Us

Innovation News

Everything Innovation. Everything New Jersey.
Follow us and stay connected.

Tyler Seville: ‘Beyond Trump’s Budget: Driving Innovation Requires State and Local Leadership’

4/21/2017

0 Comments

 
Philadelphia, PA — Tyler Seville posts on Re:CAP, which is produced by the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania: 
 
When looking at the proposed budget cuts in President Trump’s skinny budget proposal, it is tempting to default to conversations on the ability of the federal government to drive (or stifle) innovation.
 
The budget blueprint recommends cuts in research funding for the National Institute for Health and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, as well as removes federal programs, such as the Economic Development Administration, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund.
 
However, when it comes to science and technology, innovation does not have to start and end with the federal government.  In fact, states and local leaders have a unique opportunity to drive innovation policy.
​As pillars for their communities, public leaders can improve the marketing of their academic assets; enhance the culture of collaborative research between higher education and industry; strengthen its Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce pipeline; and incentivize public-private investments.
 
In moving to a more systematic approach to encourage technology-based economic development, state and local governments can develop their own innovation ecosystems or innovation clusters.
 
In my home state of New Jersey, we made great strides in the past five years.  One piece of legislation alone delivered over $220 million of private investments to 51 early-stage technology and life sciences companies in New Jersey. Another enacted bill unified the state to collaboratively pursue big data research.
 
However, meeting the demands of an innovation ecosystem also requires a state to educate its future workforce, which is why Governor Christie committed $1.3 billion to fund capital investments in colleges and universities.  In an effort to grow its ecosystem, state government is bridging the divide between industry and academia.
 
Moving forward, New Jersey has the opportunity to fill the “gaps and valleys“ left by market failures and the federal government to bolster the state’s innovation ecosystem. While communication between our academic institutions and businesses improved, more can also be done.
 
The state has not tapped into all the expertise and research and development facilities our universities offer, nor have we addressed our STEM skills gap.
 
Another example can be found in the Greater Philadelphia Region (GPR), home to one of the largest and most concentrated life science communities in the country.
 
The GPR is comprised of Philadelphia, 10 surrounding counties, southern New Jersey, and northern Delaware.  The region has developed a life sciences and pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem, which has also made great strides in recent years.
 
The GPR now has more than 100 post-secondary institutions (including six medical schools, the University of Pennsylvania, University of Delaware, and Princeton University), and 1,100 life sciences establishments (including AstraZeneca, FMC Corp. and Johnson & Johnson).
 
Since 2010, the region produced 5,400 life sciences utility patents and obtained 526 private investment deals, totaling almost $6.3 billion (while also benefiting from $1.2 billion in research grants from the NIH and other federal agencies).
 
Local and state leaders deserve credit for implementing proactive policy that incentivized these developments and helped establish innovation zones across the GPR, including in University City (Philadelphia), 611 Corridor (Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties), i2n – Ideas x Innovation Network (Chester and Delaware Counties), and Bucks County Biotechnology.
 
The zones provide startups and early stage companies accelerated commercialization, financial assistance, workforce support, and numerous networking opportunities—all the components an ecosystem needs to encourage innovation.
 
Fortunately, President Trump’s budget proposal is only the first step in the budgetary process. Many of the programs that drive innovation will likely be added in the House Republican budget.
 
However, despite the congressional leadership’s mission to drive investments in technology and innovation, the federal government is limited to basic academic and mission-oriented projects.
 
By allocating state and local funds, developing a STEM workforce, and encouraging partnerships between private ventures and academic research institutions, state and local leaders can drive their own innovation ecosystems to overcome almost any shortfall.
 
 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Do not miss a single innovative moment and sign up for our newsletter!
    Weekly updates


    Categories

    All
    3D Printing
    Academia
    Acquisitions
    Aerospace
    Agriculture
    AIDS
    Algae
    Alumni
    Animals
    Architecture
    Astrophysics
    Autism
    Awards
    Big Data
    Bioethics
    Biofuel
    Biomedical
    BioNJ
    Bioterrorism
    Bit Coins
    Brain Health
    Business
    Camden
    Cancer
    CCollege
    Cellular
    Centenary
    Chemistry
    ChooseNJ
    Climate Change
    Clinical Trials
    Cloud Tech
    Collaboration
    Computing
    Congress
    Coriell
    Council On Innovation
    Crowdfunding
    Cybersecurity
    DARPA
    Defense
    Degree
    Dementia
    Dental Health
    DOC
    DOD
    DOE
    Drew
    Drones
    Drug Creation
    Einstein's Alley
    Electricity
    Energy
    Engineering
    Entrepreneurship
    Environmental
    FAA
    Fairleigh Dickinson
    FDA
    Federal Budget
    Federal Government
    Federal Labs
    Federal Program
    Finance
    Food Science
    Fort Monmouth
    Fuel Cells
    Funding
    Genome
    Geography
    Geology
    Global Competition
    Google
    Governor Christie
    Grant
    Hackensack
    HackensackUMC
    Healthcare
    Health Care
    HHS
    HINJ
    Hospitals
    Immigration
    Incubator
    Infrastructure
    International
    Internet
    Investor
    IoT
    IP
    IT
    Jobs
    Johnson & Johnson
    K-12
    Kean
    Kessler
    Legislation
    Logistics
    Manufacturing
    Medical Devices
    Med School
    Mental Health
    Mentor
    Microorganisms
    Molecular Biology
    Montclair
    NAS
    Neuroscience
    Newark
    New Jersey
    NIFA
    NIH
    NIST
    NJBDA
    NJBIA
    NJ Chemistry Council
    NJCU
    NJDOLWD
    NJEDA
    NJEDge
    NJHF
    NJII
    NJIT
    NJMEP
    NJPAC
    NJPRO
    NJTC
    Nonprofit
    NSF
    OpEd
    Open Data
    OSHE
    OSTP
    Parasite
    Patents
    Paterson
    Patients
    Perth Amboy
    Pharma
    POTUS
    PPPL
    Princeton
    Prosthetics
    Ranking
    Rare Disease
    R&D Council
    Report
    Resiliency
    Rider
    Robotics
    Rowan
    Rutgers
    SBA
    Seton Hall
    Siemens
    Smart Car
    Smart Cities
    Software
    Solar
    Space
    SSTI
    Startup
    State Government
    STEM
    Stevens
    Stockton
    Subatomic
    Supports
    Sustainability
    Taxes
    TCNJ
    Teachers
    Telecom
    Therapy
    Thermodynamics
    Transportation
    Undergraduate
    USEDA
    Verizon
    Video Game
    Virtual Reality
    Water
    WHO
    William Paterson
    Women In STEM
    Workforce Development

Home   Coalition   News   Resources   Events   Join Us
Picture
Innovation New Jersey Coalition
10 West Lafayette Street
Trenton, NJ 08608-2002
609-858-9507