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Plant/Life Sciences
and Information Technologies are focus of RCGA’s Industry Cluster
Initiative
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Region’s
Interdisciplinary Dynamic Presents Rare Opportunity
The RCGA’s initiative to grow distinctive industry clusters ranks
among the most powerful strategies for creating regional wealth
in the New Economy. Five industry clusters have been identified:
plant and life sciences, information technologies, advanced manufacturing,
banking and financial services, and transportation and distribution.
Above: Dr.
Chris Byrnes Vice Chairman Clusters/Technology Dean, School of Engineering,
Washington University
In 2000, the Battelle Memorial Institute was commissioned to objectively
assess and catalogue the plant and life sciences cluster, benchmark
the region to others around the globe, and make multi-year, specific
recommendations for development of this cluster.
The RCGA is currently implementing recommendations from the study
for Plant and Life Sciences and strategically exploiting the region’s
extraordinary capacities in this industry.
Above:
From left: Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Chairman Dr.
Bill Danforth; RCGA President and CEO Dick Fleming; U.S. Senator
Kit Bond; and Plant Science Center Director Dr. Roger Beachy discuss
the mission of the Center.
While not as deep or wide, the region also boasts a formidable set
of strengths in the information technologies cluster. Again, Battelle
completed a study and a strategic planning process has recently
been completed to similarly take advantage of our capacities in
this area.
A somewhat unexpected, though welcome result of the critical assessment
made in these cluster analyses was recognition of a relatively unique
opportunity afforded the St. Louis region by virtue of its particular
strengths within these industry sectors.
For example, the vast amounts of data generated locally as a result
of research in the plant and life science industries require state-of-the-art
information management applications. In short, in order for the
technological advances in plant and life sciences to be fully appreciated
and immediately valued, researchers and entrepreneurs, alike, must
have the capacity to mine, manipulate, store and protect an ever-increasing
and ever more complicated body of information.
Fortunate for the St. Louis region, the very technologies that are
required to conduct such information management functions are the
same technologies that have been identified as regional strengths
in the information technology cluster assessment. Accordingly, the
“convergence” of these two industry clusters may afford the St.
Louis region a competitive advantage over other regions that do
not have the same potential for such localized, interdisciplinary
collaboration. “Bioinformatics” is one, of a few examples, where
the total may well exceed the sum of the respective parts for St.
Louis.
While specific action agenda items vary from one cluster analysis
to the other, there are a few basic underlying themes that are consistent
between the two:
- Infrastructure
- Business/Investment
Climate
- Workforce
Enhancement
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With the plant
and life sciences effort well underway at this juncture, and several
regional partners already fully engaged–led by the Coalition for
Plant and Life Sciences, under the leadership of Dr. William H.
Danforth—many of the Battelle recommendations are already in process.
Some examples include:
- A
successful marketing campaign to brand a multi-state region,
with St. Louis at its center, as the “BioBelt.” This effort
has already proven successful with St. Louis now being
included in national references to regions focused on
plant and life sciences (a distinction previously bestowed
only on coastal regions).
- A
Missouri-wide plant and life sciences coalition has been
formed, MOBIO, that has already well exceeded its target
membership. As is already the case in Illinois, the Missouri
coalition is needed to raise awareness among stakeholders
statewide and advocate for cluster-friendly legislation
and policy.
- An
innovative model is being developed to address the lack
of local capital at the very earliest “proof of concept”
stage of life science companies. This “commercialization
center” will help identify promising technologies in St.
Louis research institutions to nurture through the commercialization
process, thus filling the pipeline with emerging companies
in this sector.
- Well
ahead of a Battelle recommended timeline, three life sciences
venture capital funds have closed on more than $150MM
in assets with two additional funds in formation.
- As
a direct result of committee efforts within the Technology
Gateway Alliance, a “technology forum” has been convened
at which private sector representatives provide insights
on the commercial potential of discoveries made at the
region’s major research institutions.
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Goals for the
coming year include:
- Further
implementation of the strategies recommended in the Battelle
Plant and Life Sciences study.
- Implementation
of Battelle recommendations for information technologies,
including:
- An
outreach and awareness campaign to promote value-added
IT applications across all industry sectors where regional
capacities are not being recognized or utilized on a widespread
basis.
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Develop an IT-specific venture capital initiative.
- Create
a comprehensive regional IT business and educational alliance.
- Development
of strategies around additional distinctive industry clusters.
- Support
and expand Technology Gateway Alliance efforts that include:
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— Quarterly
“Tech Tour” networking events
— Quarterly speaker series presentation
— Committee efforts in direct support of Battelle strategies
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