Even though Pennsylvania is among the nation’s foremost centers of high-tech research and development, it still is better known for the legacy industries that made it an industrial powerhouse.
A revealing new study by Brookings Institution researchers puts it succinctly:
”Few states possess as many of the assets needed for innovation-driven growth as Pennsylvania. Powerhouse research universities are working on the most critical issues of the day in life sciences, artificial intelligence, robotics, transportation and energy. Breakout companies are making headlines and garnering major investments … And yet, for all that, Pennsylvania has not been able to convert its assets into abundant, high-quality economic growth. Specifically, leadership in some of the most prized factors for innovation-driven growth … has failed to translate into … broad-based employment across an array of high-tech, high-pay advanced industries.”
The state’s research universities generate $4.8 billion worth of research each year, fourth-highest in the nation, and also score in the top 10 for R&D growth, according to Brookings. That, in turn, makes the state a leader in new patents.
Almost all of that, 99%, is within three “innovation clusters” in and around Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and State College.
Those areas are home to major research universities including Penn, Drexel, Carnegie Mellon, Pitt and Penn State. The clusters include far above-average research and commercial development in life sciences, computer and information services, robotics, chemicals and materials sciences.
Unlike similar states, Brookings found, Pennsylvania’s state government has no coherent strategy for translating R&D into economic growth, does not aggressively promote the state’s strengths, and invests little in innovation.
The study noted that the state government reduced its innovation investments by two-thirds to save money during the Great Recession 14 years ago, and never has restored it. Initiatives to expand tech-derived economic growth, such as the Life Sciences Greenhouse and the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, have been underfunded for years, the report found.
Brookings recommends that the state government expand the street-level impact of its R&D prowess, including by fostering entrepreneurship, providing grants to develop innovation clusters outside of the existing three, and more.
State lawmakers and the next governor should use the study as a template to spur greater growth from its world-class R&D foundation.
— The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre via TNS
