Eric Smith is the Technology Centers Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA). We sat down with him to discuss Tech Hubs, what it's all about, and how the program is an investment in America's people, places, and potential.
Interview question and answer
Question: You are the inaugural director of the Tech Hubs program. What excites you about the program and your new role?
Eric:
Technology-driven development is critical to our strategy to strengthen the economic and national security of the United States. This mission—enabling the industries of the future to start, grow, and stay in the United States—is compelling and motivating. There is an urgent need to ensure that we maintain and grow our global leadership in technological innovation, and it is essential that the economic benefits of our leadership accrue equitably to all.
Aside from the design and implementation of the technology centres, I also see the program as an important turning point in the continued development of the EDA. For the first 45 years of EDA's operation, we primarily had oneAlthough it is important, Tool — Our suite of Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance (PWEAA) programs. Over the past decade, Congress has expanded this toolkit through innovation-focused programs such as Large scale construction And the STEM Talent Challenge The EDA was tasked with deploying more and larger investments. Technology Hubs build on the success of these programs and investments and give us the ability to focus and coordinate investments so that regions can organize their resources and networks around one cohesive goal – stimulating technology- and innovation-led growth to become globally competitive.
a question: What does it mean for a region to be globally competitive in a particular technology? As these newly appointed centers compete for EDA's $50-$75 million investment, what are they really looking to unlock for their regions?
Eric:
Technology hubs have demonstrated why they have the foundations for global competitiveness; In the second stage, they will propose how They will achieve it. In the second phase, we will invest in regions that have strong potential to lead globally across a broad range of important and emerging technologies and the people and places that make and deliver these products and services.
In most successful centres, we will see these regions – and the industries within them – building and gaining market share in specific industries. We also expect to see signs of increased innovation, increased business creation and expansion, and increased investment in these places. We look for market potential – where are there viable commercialization pathways for these critical technologies? Which regions are building effective interfaces between their innovation engines and industry that will make them globally competitive and that will lead to good new jobs? We will ask these centers and ourselves frequently these questions as the centers compile their Phase II project proposals and as we evaluate them.
As for the investments that we will make in the second phase, they will finance projects that strengthen the economic infrastructure on which regions grow – for example, those projects that build the workforce and attract talent, that increase the flow of capital, that support emerging and growing companies, that Facilitates testing and deployment of technologies. Each center will have its own mix of projects, tailored to suit its specific opportunities.
“We look for market potential – where are there viable commercialization pathways for these critical technologies?”
The name's association between place and technology is an example of competitiveness. We all know the places are Existing Axes. Our goal is to enable the technology centers we recruit and fund to capture more market share of the industry they focus on globally. These investments inject regions with additional power to generate more innovation, more services, more products, and more sales in a given technology area. One day, they may also become a new place synonymous with their own technology.
a question: Tech Hubs is part of the Chips and Science Act. The program was approved for $10 billion, but the EDA received only $500 million in allocated funding. This is another investment vehicle from EDA that advocates for and prioritizes growth and development based on local solutions to locally identified challenges. The EDA is not the only part of the federal government implementing this strategy. Why is this approach important?
Eric:
Long-term growth requires the approval of those on the ground. People, places and organizations are complex, and success requires intention and ownership by the local leaders responsible for implementing it. Building regional technology and innovation centers requires federal and local government, research institutions, industry, workforce, labor, community organizations, and other partners to come together and coalesce around a common strategy. The consortium model also allows for more effective governance by providing the structure and forum to enable true and lasting collaboration.
The Tech Hubs program challenges organizations in these regions to work together to identify market failures and other opportunities that cannot or will not be addressed by a single person or organization. By pursuing economic development agency investment, regions can not only organize themselves to seize those opportunities, but they can also—and sometimes, more importantly—help regions attract a stream of additional capital tailored to each of those opportunities and able to leverage Growth of the area to another level. .
a question: How are Tech Hubs different from other spatial software we've seen?
Eric:
Tech Hubs is not starting from scratch. We target areas with mature ecosystems with mature assets and resources, and He wonders: What can the Emirates Diving Association rely on to advance this region from an excellent region to a region capable of competing globally?
“The designations and EDA investments should be seen as a signal to the broader capital community about the ability of these areas to generate dollar return and impact.”
We also call for a regional commitment to a strategy. The entire consortium of RSOs – from laboratory to client – must be part of this strategy and have their stake in the game.
a questionShares have become an essential part of the EDA's investments under the current management. In real terms, how do Tech Hubs advance equity and expand economic growth opportunities?
Eric:
Economic and national security are closely linked. Establishing more technology-based economic development centers across the country and ensuring opportunities and inclusion in this growth will help us achieve the vision of the programme. Growth must benefit the people and workers living in these centres, as well as the businesses and institutions within and connected to these areas.
For this to happen, the leadership of these centers must include people who represent and belong to the diverse communities within their regions. We've intentionally built this into the software. When we look at the Centre's governance and leadership, we look for strength and durability because these are long-term strategies that require collaboration and shared commitment to implement successfully. To enable this, centers need to build and maintain inclusive leadership teams that will continue to strive for equity as these regional innovation economies grow over the coming years and decades.
Tech Hubs also takes a data-driven approach to underlying current economic activity to better measure and understand the impacts of EDA investments on systemic changes in economic activity and who benefits from it.
Through policy interventions and direct investments in talent and workforce development, we believe technology hubs can have tangible impacts on improving people's lives. We are working to improve the skills of the region's workforce so that residents can participate more fully in its evolving economy and to support the development of these critical technologies that are fundamental to these regions and the economic success of our country. We are taking concrete steps – as you can see in how we design our funding standards and what we ask and encourage regions to incorporate into their plans and projects – to help ensure that economic growth is inclusive, such as securing local employment commitments to quality jobs and accounting for significant economic and population growth in housing and transportation plans. Long term.
a question: What are the components of the success of technical centers?
Eric:
Each region faces unique challenges and opportunities due to factors such as its specific assets, resources, capabilities and the underlying technology area in which it seeks to achieve global competitiveness. Tech Hubs are designed to work with regional consortia to identify and overcome barriers to scaling critical innovations and developing technology commercially globally.
However, all technology centers hold the promise of becoming leaders not only in innovation but also in production and delivery in a particular technology area – the promise of overall economic success. This promise lies at the intersection of innovation, resources and technical expertise. We look for regions that have this foundation and a track record of regional cooperation within their technology innovation ecosystem.
Tech Hubs will be an active co-investor in these ecosystems. The EDA appointments and investments should be seen as a signal to the broader capital community about the potential of these areas to generate dollar revenue and influence.
