Boston's fleeting edge in innovation

One country after another is racing to build the capacity for innovation which is increasingly viewed as a hallmark of national success. In March 2008 the UK released a white paper with a sweeping innovation agenda, joining China, Canada, Denmark, India, Israel, Korea, and many others which are putting put innovation squarely in the middle of their plans to drive economic and social development.

Why worry about all of the other countries whose government policies push innovation? After all, there is no place like Massachusetts, which provides a competitive advantage that is hard to duplicate. Just last week, Massachusetts ranked as the nation’s top state in technology and science, according to the Milken Institutes's 2008 State Technology and Science Index.

According to John Kao, we have plenty to worry about. In his book, Innovation Nation: How America Is Losing Its Innovation Edge, Why It Matters, and What We Can Do to Get It Back, all the key advantages we once enjoyed are nearly gone. Kao was the keynote at a recent forum organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

His strongest point is that the geography of innovation is changing. For much of the 20th century, the leading-edge was the U.S. and Europe. The rise of Asia is evening that out, redistributing the fruits of innovation: wealth and power.

— Talent is now everywhere. The return to greatness of Asia’s older universities and the building of new educational institutions mean that brainpower is more evenly distributed. In addition, a giant reverse diaspora is under way as tens of thousands of Chinese and Indian scientists and engineers, many of them tops in their fields, leave the U.S. to return to their homelands to teach and work.

— Capital is now everywhere. Venture capital pools are operating all over Asia and Europe, speeding the generation of new startups. European and American VC firms have offices in most major cities in Asia and Eastern Europe.

— Route 128 is now everywhere. The social and economic ecosystem that has been so productive is being reproduced all over the world. Bangalore in India, Biopolis in Singapore, and the Otaniemi tech cluster in Finland have found the magic once mainly centered in U.S. innovation hubs.

— Military spending is now everywhere. The high tech spin-off benefits that once accrued mostly to the U.S. are being spread around. A 2006 Defense Dept. survey of 42 leading-edge technologies for future weapons found that 20 came from outside the U.S.

This new global competition in research and innovation is felt most acutely in regions like Boston that compete on the smarts of its workers and the technology prowess of its firms. As explained by Jack Wilson, President of the University of Massachusetts:

"Massachusetts has employed a simple formula to create a vibrant economy: Rely on the innovations produced by outstanding higher education and healthcare institutions, corporations and individuals to build the enterprises that fuel our economic engine. While this recipe has worked well for a century, it may no longer be enough to secure our economic future. Increased competition is eroding historical advantages in higher education and research that have been at the heart of our success…."

Kao argues that the U.S. still has the capability not only to regain our competitive edge, but to take a bold step out ahead of the global community and secure a leadership role in the twenty-first century. The centerpiece of his idea is to spend $20 billion to create 20 innovation hubs around the country. The model would be San Diego, which transformed itself from a Navy town into a life-sciences and biotech center in 15 years.

Kao is far from alone in calling for a national innovation strategy. In May the National Academy of Sciences issued a collection of studies, “Innovation in Global Industries,” an analysis of innovation in several important industries. In April the Brookings Institution produced a report, “Boosting Productivity, Innovation and Growth Through an Innovation Foundation.”

“His theme resonates with what we are seeing in much of the rest of the scientific community,” Alan I. Leshner, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said in an interview in the New York Times. “There is a lot of competition around the world as more and more countries realize that investing in science fuels innovation over the long term and leads to economic growth.”

What role can UMass Boston play in innovation?

According to a report by the Battelle Memorial Institute for UMass Boston, Research Reenvisioned for the 20th Century:

"In the future, UMass Boston’s research capacities will be critical as the region needs to address the new global competition in research and innovation. UMass Boston, in fulfilling its urban mission, needs to respond to new challenges facing the Boston region. None may be as significant and far-reaching to the region’s economic vitality as the rise of global competition in research and innovation. For the first time, states and regions in the U.S. are facing competition from developing nations not only in lower cost production, but also in research activities and the high skilled talent and innovation it drives.

The continued development of UMass Boston’s research base can be an important element in how the region responds to this growing competitive challenge in research and innovation. As the only public university in the Boston region, UMass Boston can grow its research base in a manner that directly embraces its “urban mission” by focusing on “use-inspired basic research” for addressing the gaps in translating innovation between basic university research and the more applied and development-focused research of industry. In this way, UMass Boston can advance research efforts defined in concert with industry and community stakeholders, while seeking to be collaborators with existing private research universities in the Boston area filling in critical interdisciplinary research."