IMPACT: A Proposal for Realizing the Economic Potential of University Research

Currently, the federal government invests nearly $50 billion a year on university research -- yet very little on university programs to help translate the most promising ideas into new businesses and employment opportunities.

In a recent column for CNN, Krisztina “Z”Holly outlined a specific policy proposal for how the federal government can catalyze economic growth and societal benefit with ideas spawned at major research universities. The IMPACT proposal, which she authored last summer at the urging of the White House Office for Science and Technology Policy, is an initiative that would translate the most promising innovations into new products, services, and start-ups; increase engagement of faculty and students in the innovation and entrepreneurship process; and enhance regional ‘innovation ecosystems’ around universities.

We are excited to report that the proposal made it into the Obama administration’s FY2011 budget request, as a new component of the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for Innovation program. $12 million a year will be invested in a new “NSF Innovation Ecosystem” competitive grant program.

The key to the program is that it is modest in cost yet big on impact, because it leverages the resources we already have in higher education. It focuses on what a university does best -- generating groundbreaking ideas, teaching lifelong innovators, and serving as a nexus for the local community. Ultimately, we hope that it scales to every corner of the country.

We know first-hand that these initiatives create jobs and economic prosperity. For example, in the last two years 16 USC spinouts raised at least $148 million in financing. These companies employ approximately 500 full-time employees, more than half locally in Los Angeles.

Now that the proposal is in the federal budget, we have a great opportunity for economic and societal impact through ideas generated at major research universities. Please spread the word with your colleagues. We need to gain more awareness and popular support behind the idea as Congress prepares to consider the budget in the coming months.

The CNN article can be found here: http://bit.ly/acFPJl
IMPACT Paper can be found here: http://bit.ly/IMPACT
The White House OTSP Budget Highlights can be found here: http://bit.ly/WHBudget

DOWNLOAD FULL PAPER | CNN ARTICLE: January 29, 2010
FEDERAL NEWS RADIO INTERVIEW

Read more about innovation research here.

This work by Krisztina "Z" Holly is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License