New Study Documents Growing Role for Higher Education in Driving Economic Development Efforts in the States

‘New Paradigm’ for Economic Development

The United States and its higher education systems are on the verge of a "new paradigm" in defining the roles of colleges and universities in promoting state and regional economic development, says a report issued today http://www.rockinst.org/pdf/education/2010-03-18-A_New_Paradigm.pdf .

"The old paradigm rests largely on the traditional mix of business attraction and retention incentives," such as tax breaks or infrastructure, says the report, by the Rockefeller Institute of Government of the State University of New York. "Research, technology transfer, management assistance, and/or worker training are often thrown in among the incentives — but sometimes as a kind of afterthought…. Perhaps there is now an opportunity to flip the old model around — adopting a new, ‘knowledge first’ paradigm in which higher education systems explicitly take a leading role."

Full Story: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/03/15/econdev

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Where high-tech capitalism, higher education intersect

Brian Darmody considers himself an entrepreneurial bureaucrat – and he doesn’t think that’s an oxymoron.

Before he became associate vice president for research and economic development at the University of Maryland, College Park, he worked in state government and hatched the idea of an economic development authority aimed solely at technology more than a decade ago.

That entity, the Maryland Technology Development Corp., known as TEDCO, has become instrumental in funding promising tech start-ups in Maryland.

The 54-year-old Darmody recently spoke with The Baltimore Sun about research, economic development and the work his department does to convert the university’s work into new companies and commercial products.

Full Story: http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.interview14mar14,0,4334718.story