STC Launches S&T Planning Initiative for South

The Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science is providing the Southern Technology Council (STC) $150,000 in matching funds over three years to help Southern states increase innovation-driven economic development. A major element of the initiative is annual benchmarking of each state's progress in agreed-upon categories, including: industrial composition, entrepreneurial development, globalization, and human resources.

The three-year program, Invented Here: Towards an Innovation-Driven Southern Economy, is designed to assist Southern states in leveraging scarce resources to build dynamic, sustainable economic growth.

Invented Here will help each Southern state in determining where it stands in the innovation-driven economy, developing a strategic plan, and establishing a set of benchmarks for improving its position. Specifically, Invented Here will:

• Articulate the South's position within the innovation economy;
• Establish an innovation-driven strategic plan for a sustainable Southern economy;
• Build consensus within each of the Southern Growth's member states concerning the top science- and technology-based economic development priorities;
• Provide action agendas to boost each state's position within the innovation economy; 
• Initiate an ongoing tracking mechanism and process by which progress will be measured and reported on an annual basis regionally and within each state; and,
• Support the efforts of Southern states with best-practice reports within the framework of the strategic plan.

This July, the STC will convene leaders from every Southern state for discussions on what their state's needs and opportunities are in the context of the innovation economy.

The Southern Technology Council is seeking matching funds to complement Kenan Institute funding in support of Invented Here. More information can be found on the Southern Technology Council/Southern Growth Policies Board web site: http://www.southern.org 



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