Innovate Now:Overview and Next Steps

February 2007

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Innovation and Economic DevelopmentGrowing national consensus: States and their regions will increasingly compete

on innovation in a global knowledge-based economy States and regions must have strategies for

achieving sustainable differentiation and competitive advantage through innovation

Public and private leaders must engage their states and regions in raising awareness and launching coordinated economic development, workforce development, and education initiatives to achieve sustainable competitive advantage

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National Context Books and national reports on innovation

and global competitiveness have effectively framed the challenges and issues

National Governors Association “Innovation America” initiative will provide a window of opportunity for states and their regions to take leadership roles in promoting innovation and economic development.

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State Context Innovation initiatives provide a useful frame of

reference for: Describing the major changes in state and regional

economies and future trends Rethinking the state and regional business environment

that will set the stage for future economic development Innovation initiatives increase the focus on key

education and workforce issues such as: Rising education requirements and number of residents

not prepared for postsecondary education STEM and other critical skill shortages P-20 alignment and integration

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Innovate Now Initiative Goal:

Make the Chicagoland Region and Illinois globally recognized centers of innovation

Phases: Phase I—Raise awareness and build consensus on

strategies starting in the Chicagoland Region with focus on manufacturing (lead by Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, World Business Chicago, and DCEO)

Phase II—Move to statewide and regional planning and action after gaining consensus and commitment from public and private leaders

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Phase I Activities Innovate Now Summit on October

24, 2006 in partnership with Council on Competitiveness

CEO Innovation Forums and Business Profiles

Review of Leading Practices Meetings with national experts Review of national and state initiatives Review of business innovation literature

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Defining Innovation Innovation is the development and implementation of

new ideas and new ways of doing things (business models, products and services, markets, processes) to create customer value and drive business and economic growth.

Business model innovation provides the necessary framework for the full utilization of science and technology advancement

Business innovation includes both incremental improvements and breakthrough developments.

Business innovation is broader than science and technological discovery and advancement. It is the interface between business entrepreneurship and science and technology discovery as well as other types of creativity and discovery

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Innovation TalentStates and regions can create comparative advantage by creating a new breed of innovation talent with:

Business entrepreneurship skills—creating new business models, identifying and exploiting customer needs in new markets with new products and services

Global and culturally diverse—engage customers and partners throughout the world

Strong STEM knowledge and skills—both depth in specialties and capable of working across functions and disciplines in open collaborative networks with customers, suppliers, and partners

Work and learn using mass collaboration platforms and tools

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Four Key Strategies for Promoting Innovation

1. Business Innovation Leadership and Capacity

2. Open Collaborative Innovation Networks

3. Innovation Talent4. Innovation Metrics

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Business Innovation Leadership and Capacity

Public-private leadership to convey the vision and strategies

CEO forums and meetings to promote peer-to-peer exchange

Executive leadership education opportunities in innovation

Expanded education and training programs in innovation approaches and methods

Promoting leading practices in business innovation metrics that provide the foundation for state and regional innovation metrics

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Open Collaborative Innovation Networks

Promoting open business models and innovation processes

Launching more open-ended and dynamic approaches to economic cluster initiatives

Promoting more comprehensive models for university, community college, and federal laboratory roles in innovation

Providing gap funding for scientific and technological innovations between basic research and commercialization

Exploring how to leverage new innovation intermediaries (e.g., Innocentive.com) and new mass collaboration platforms and tools

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Innovation Talent Recruiting and retaining the top innovation

talent in the world Leading business HR strategies for recruiting,

developing, utilizing and retaining talent New interdisciplinary programs addressing

entrepreneurship, innovation, and STEM education

Innovation-centered approaches to K-12 STEM education that integrate existing initiatives

Innovation-centered P-20 alignment and integration efforts

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Innovation Metrics Illinois must promote a national discussion with

leading public and private sector experts Start with leading business practices in

measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of innovation processes not just input or intermediate measures such as research and development spending and intellectual property

Develop comprehensive framework that can be used by businesses and key innovation partners (e.g., universities) as well as states and regions in benchmarking innovation performance

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Next Steps for Phase I Convene national meeting of public and private

leaders and experts in Chicago on building open collaborative innovation networks (in cooperation with national sponsors)

Conduct regional innovation forums focusing on innovation talent and key issues in education and workforce development

Develop Phase I report on promoting innovation in Illinois

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Innovate NowContact Information:

Lance Pressl, Ph.D. Foundation President Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce 200 E. Randolph Street, Suite 2200Chicago, Illinois 60601Phone: 312.494.6766   Fax: 312.861.0644LPressl@chicagolandchamber.org