Committee on the Innovation Economy

The NTC Board of Directors on March 25, 2008, authorized a task force, chaired by NTC board member Wes Jurey (President & CEO of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce), charged with developing recommendations to the board relative to what the NTC's role could and should be in terms of positioning the region to be competitive in what is referred to as the "innovation economy".

The task force identified three strategies, presented to the board as critical to the region's competitiveness, as areas in which the NTC might effectively contribute:

  1. Enhance the research capability of our universities
  2. Enhance the commercialization of innovation in our region
  3. Develop and market our region’s assets

The report of the task force was adopted by the board, which also approved the establishment of a standing committee of the NTC, the Committee on the Innovation Economy.

Premise

Fundamental to the economic growth and vitality of a community or region is the generation of wealth, rather than jobs. Simply put, jobs don’t generate wealth, but wealth does generate jobs.

Historically, research and technology have been the drivers of wealth creation. Research that resulted in commercializable technologies (intellectual properties), funded by venture capital, leading to the formation of new companies by entrepreneurs capable of taking patents or licensable technologies to the marketplace.

In essence, three critical components came together – (1) Deal Flow – technology discoveries that were patented or licensed; (2) Venture Capital from investors willing to take a risk for an equity share; and (3) Entrepreneurs who could formulate and implement start up strategies, often leaving the company once it completed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) or was sold to another corporation.

The critical success factor is the means to bring these three key elements together. Easier said than done. In terms of the globally competitive environment we face, it should be apparent that the future competitiveness of the United States, as well as our cities and regions, will largely depend on the ability to remain at the leading edge of technological innovation.

Benchmarking & Analysis

In establishing priorities and defining the strategies recommend for the NTC, we relied on four significant benchmarking projects.

The first was a study from New Economy Strategies in 2000, commissioned by the North Texas Commission. In discussing the parameters of the "new economy," the study gave North Texas low marks for its low production of degrees in engineering, science and business information systems. It also reported a lament among North Texas business and educational leaders that the region had yet to maximize the research capacity needed to push advances in biotechnology, a recognized emerging field for future economic growth.

The second was a comprehensive Benchmarking Analysis of the North Texas PMSA with other PMSA’s considered leaders in technology innovation. Commissioned by the Dallas Citizens Council and conducted by SRI International, the results were released in September 2002. SRI’s report clearly identified resources available to North Texas, as well as ascertaining the status of the six major public universities in our PMSA in terms of their ability to support technology-led economic development.

The third analysis was commissioned by the UT System, who engaged The Washington Advisory Group in 2003 to assist in the development of a comprehensive analysis of UT Arlington and UT Dallas. The results were released by the UT System in May 2004, recommending strategies and tactics for more effectively using and expanding resources with the 3 North Texas Universities within the UT System.

The fourth was a study published in August 2006 by the State Science and Technology Institute, confirming that the three primary drivers for technology based economic development are (1) positioning universities as drivers, (2) fostering entrepreneurship, and (3) increasing access to capital.

Collectively, these 4 analyses have served to both benchmark North Texas with other high tech regions, and identify strategies and initiatives we can pursue to develop our region’s technology based economy.