Innovation Districts As Good Neighbors
Excerpted from the December 2024 issue of TechEngage. UIDP members can view the entire issue here.
“If you build it, they will come.”
That statement from the movie Field of Dreams led Ray Kinsella to tear up his cornfield and put in a baseball diamond, but it could also apply to the approach some universities have taken toward innovation centers and innovation districts.
Innovation centers and districts are a hot topic among university administrators, offering universities not only a way to commercialize research and innovation from their own faculty and students but also a way to attract businesses that can enhance the university’s opportunities for collaboration.
However, creating a thriving innovation center or district isn’t as easy as plowing under a cornfield and building a baseball diamond. Often, building that hub for innovation requires acquiring land or building on university-owned land in the surrounding community, which impacts not just the university but those living nearby.
In addition, creating a thriving innovation district starts with understanding the university’s own strengths and deliberately attracting companies that complement those strengths. It’s not so much, “If you build it, they will come,” but “If you build it, be intentional.”