When the Brookings Institution decided to explore how national laboratories should approach economic development, their conversations naturally included Thom Mason and his staff at ORNL.
“Clearly, Oak Ridge is a preeminent innovation and tech development source,” said Mark Muro, senior fellow with Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program. “There have been increasing efforts in the last five years to build better tech partnerships and links into the regional industry scene. I think Thom Mason has always had a strong focus on regional tech development.”
Brookings’ conversations at ORNL and elsewhere informed its exploration of national laboratories as potential forces for promoting high-tech industry. “Going Local: Connecting the National Labs to their Regions for Innovation and Growth” was published in September 2014. It praises the labs for their potential as economic drivers but faults them for not doing more.
While ORNL took a hit for missed opportunities in the past, it also earned praise for recent efforts and collaborations. These include the RevV! voucher program (in which the state pays for businesses to work with experts at the lab) and the Oak Ridge Carbon Fiber Composites Consortium, whose membership includes industrial giants such as 3M and Dow Chemical.
Brookings’ deep dive into economic development goes beyond the labs. The institution has also focused on the auto industry in Tennessee and the space industry in Colorado. It continues the conversation Sept. 15 at a one-day event at ORNL, “Making Innovation Sticky,” with about three dozen leaders in business, government and academia, including ORNL’s Mason.
“It begins with the idea that this country has a portfolio of strong, innovation-oriented institutions in a lot of regions,” Muro noted, “but not always are they well-leveraged or connected to their regional economies. We believe East Tennessee is a great place to look at these issues.”
Organizers hope that with the right mix of “thought leaders” in the room, the workshop will have concrete benefits.
“We’re hoping for action to put some of the right models into place. Tennessee has already done that. It may be that attendees from other states will pick up ideas.”
See also:
- ORNL shares its know-how
- ORNL's national reach
- Technology in the wider economy
- ORNL tech successes
- Who is ORNL's next big tech success story?
