Megatrend for U.S. Science, Tech Parks, and Clusters of Innovation: Diversifying Anchor Institutions, Creating Regional Partnerships and Exploring New Geographies

The United States is making new place-based investments to develop globally competitive technology clusters across different regions of the country through a suite of recent federal legislative efforts. These include the EDA’s successful Build Back Better Regional Challenge and the soon-to-come NSF Regional Engines and EDA Regional Tech Hubs programs, along with many others. These initiatives will help seed new Areas of Innovation (AOI) and bolster existing ones. Science and Tech Parks (STPs) can be a critical node of the innovation ecosystems these programs are seeking to promote.

In order to be effective partners, STPs must understand the broader context and partnerships which enable these initiatives. This paper catalogs recent investments and argues that STPs must act as cooperative partners within a broader innovation ecosystem. They can play an important convening function to lead or support coalitions in applying to these programs, but in order to be successful they must build forward looking, inclusive strategies with input from stakeholders across their community.