Plan to Transform Southern Economy Released

In a bid to make the South a knowledge economy leader, the Southern Growth Policies Board has released Invented Here: Transforming the Southern Economy, a 10-year strategic plan to create an innovation-driven economy in the South. 



Southern Growth describes Invented Here as the "first of its kind in that not only does it lay out goals and objectives for an entire region, but it provides a mechanism for tracking the region's progress toward those goals." 



Invented Here is built around three goals: 

• Increasing the perceived value of education in the South; 
• Harnessing the full potential of innovation; and  
• Creating and sustaining a quality of life that is attractive to globally competitive businesses and employees. 

Each of the goals is supported by objectives and benchmarks that will be used to measure the states' and the region's progress. In all, 13 objectives and 74 benchmarks are identified. 



Southern Technology Council and Southern Growth Policies Board staff will work with the states to set 10-year targets for each of the plan's benchmarks. Annual reports will show the progress each of the states has made to those targets. 



What also may be of interest to Digest readers is Invented Here: Measures of Southern Growth, a several hundred page report that provides a plethora of statistics on each of the Southern states, including information on industry trends, entrepreneurship and innovation, globalization, and demographics. 



For more information on Transforming the Southern Economy and Measures of Southern Growth, visit http://www.southern.org/main/stc/projects/invented.shtml