Assessing Innovation Hubs and Regional Innovation Engines: New Methods

In recent years, place-based innovation has attracted renewed attention from policymakers and major new funding, including over $80 billion in federal support for historically overlooked regions.

As both urban and rural regions organize to implement new technology cluster initiatives with once-in-a-generation funding, attention is also turning to measuring impacts and outcomes. Traditional metrics of counting patents, students graduating from training programs, and startup companies founded may be useful, but how do we forge consensus on long-term outcomes that matter for communities and society?

Panelists and attendees will discuss new indexes and metrics for assessing how funds are being used, how communities support resilient innovation and how assessment impacts communities in ways that advance goals or undermine progress.