Science in the Triangle

It’s an encouraging historical fact that creativity rises when the economy tanks.

That means, the time to plant seeds for tomorrow’s innovation is now, when the global economy is shrinking, unemployment is rising and one of the world’s largest carmakers, General Moters, is about to restructure in the biggest industrial bankruptcy in U.S. history.

We also have to prepare the soil to make them grow in a park where we intend to reap science-driven innovation, said Robert Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Research Triangle Park benefited from the strides large corporations made in research and development. In the 1970s, the biggest companies dominated the generation of innovative technologies. But that has changed significantly in the past 30 years.

Today, large corporations are moving R&D jobs offshore, to lower-cost countries. Companies with fewer than 5,000 employees contribute more than 80 percent of the top 100 innovations. And science-driven job growth increasingly depends on collaboration that crosses borders and involves companies large and small as well as universities.

What does that mean for RTP? Atkinson will offer suggestions at the International Association of Science Parks conference in Raleigh this week.

Atkinson, who in 1989 received a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is one of the key speakers at the IASP conference, which is bringing more than 750 participants from about 50 countries to the Triangle. He spoke to Science in the Triangle in advance of his presentation Wednesday. Here is an edited version of the conversation:

Q: What should the Research Triangle area do to foster and tap science-driven innovations and create jobs for another 50 years?

A:The Triangle has largely focused on being a branch plant for R&D. The area has long struggled with becoming more entrepeneurial.

An institutional culture change is necessary at Triangle universities. Right now, the corporate labs are doing their thing and the universities are doing their thing. Scientists, institutions and the business community need to work much more collaboratively.

This is a leadership issue that must be tackled by the Triangle business community, political leaders and universities.

Q: Why is it important to address this issue now?

A: Downturns can be fertile periods for innovation. Higher quality startup companies tend to spring up during downturns than during prosperous times. Innovation is critical to the economic success of a region such as the Triangle.

Q: Can you provide examples of how other regions do it?

A: Silicon Valley has always been much more collaborative than the Research Triangle area.

In southern California, the University of California at San Diego is tapping the resources and experiences of a cluster of wireless engineering companies. Representatives of the companies help the university to interview job applicants for faculty positions. My God, what a radical idea.

In Ottawa, Canada, the Information and Communications Technology Council brings together members from companies, universities and federal labs to allign their ideas and needs and direct job growth.