Lesa Mitchell, Vice President, Advancing Innovation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco (center) explains his city’s efforts to develop and nurture a high-tech economy.
"People, people, people" make a knowledge economy hum — that was the consensus among this session's panelists.
Moving away from the traditional norms and practices that guaranteed success in an industrial economy, today's economy values expertise and intellectual property more than land or natural resources. Such an economy thrives on, and in fact requires, highly intelligent and educated people.
After brief introductions by each member of the panel, Ross DeVol of the Milken Institute placed the discussion in a larger context. Through a variety of slides that summarized years of research, DeVol hypothesized that a community's economic success is driven by its ability to retain human capital. While "it is critical to have large tech firms . . . [we] need people who know how to start new companies to have long-term success." A community that can lure and keep entrepreneurs will maintain a long-term competitive edge.
This sentiment was echoed by nearly every member of the panel. Lynde Coit of Plasco Energy Group emphasized the importance of the "special sauce" that led his company to place its headquarters in Ottawa, Canada. Plasco's technology, which converts waste into synthetic natural gas that can be used to generate electricity, was developed over a 20-year period in Ottawa. It was Ottawa's "long history of innovation and entrepreneurship" that made it an ideal locale for Plasco's plant.
Salvador Malo of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness explained that, for the first time, Mexico has "a sense of competitiveness and innovation at the federal level of government, and local governments are trying to attract all forms of capital." He highlighted the state of Guanajuato, which has a population of less than 5 million but an ambitious "six economic corridors plan" to attract energy, biotechnology, nanotechnology, aerospace, information and automotive industries to the area.
David Fransen of the Institute for Quantum Computing further elaborated on the specific types of people necessary to create an entrepreneurial environment: "rich people and nerds." (DeVol jumped in to remind the audience that these groups were not mutually exclusive.) And not all rich people are created equal. Fransen believes that people who have made their money in today's economy — as opposed to "legacy rich" who have inherited money — are more likely to appreciate risk and investment in research. Such people tend to be less outcome-based and appreciate all aspects and benefits of the entrepreneurial environment.
Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco agreed that "the competitive differentiator is talent." As mayor, he adheres to a philosophy of "reinvent or die." He highlighted the various tactics San Francisco employs to create a thriving city where the most talented people will want to live and work: "anchoring the connection to Asia" by supporting Chinatown, Little Saigon and Japantown; mapping out a new area in Mission Bay for the University of San Francisco; and training community college students for specific jobs that major corporations say they will need to fill in five to ten years.
At one point Newsom and Fransen clashed briefly over the importance of diversity if the aim is to create an economic engine. Fransen posited that "rich nerds" do not require diversity; only superior minds and superior technology will lure them to a given place. Newsom countered that "openness to new ideas," be they cultural or technological, is imperative to attract top minds.
The moderator, Lesa Mitchell of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, kept the conversation lively, moving briskly speaker to speaker and offering insights of her own. She emphasized the importance of universities in attracting talented young minds to a given area, but she noted that the responsibility of retaining them eventually shifts back to the locality. Every city or town must work to keep its graduates living and working in the area if they want to capitalize on the intellectual property.
Global Conference 2013
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, philanthropist Bill Gates and Strive Masiyiwa of Econet Wireless discuss advancing prosperity in Africa.
