Knowledge Economy

Advancing the state’s Knowledge Economy has been a top economic development priority for the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber has led this regional effort which brings together Rhode Island’s policy leaders, businesses, universities, hospitals and other community partners. The collective goal: unleash and commercialize the untapped talent in the region, boosting productivity, creating wealth, and mitigating government revenue shortfalls.

The Chamber has focused its efforts on key areas of growth:

• Healthcare - brain science / medical devices/ behavioral and preventative health 
• Clean technology - alternative energy and environmental technology 
• Design - facility & spatial design/ product & safety design 
• IT/digital media/ big data

Innovation Providence Implementation Council (IPIC)

The Innovation Providence Implementation Council is charged with measuring progress and driving strategy surrounding the development of Rhode Island’s Knowledge Economy. In its leadership role, the group sets the action agenda for moving the Knowledge Economy forward; distributes grant funds through a formal process; and works to help jumpstart projects identified as promising economic opportunities that will expand key industries and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of the city and state. The Council is comprised of leaders of colleges, universities, hospitals, state and city government, and businesses.

The IPIC has three key areas of focus:

1. Implementing the Knowledge Economy Action Agenda
2. Benchmarking the Rhode Island Knowledge Economy
3. Grant making

Action Agenda: The goal of the Action agenda is to craft a collaborative regional strategy that links and leverages resources and leadership critical to building the economy and knowledge capacity of the region across geographic, industry and academic boundaries. 

Click here to read the Knowledge Economy Action Agenda

There are 6 strategies included in the Action Agenda: 

Strategy 1: Get more people/ideas in the knowledge business pipeline.

Strategy 2: Develop and implement a marketing program to reinforce and support Providence as the location for all knowledge-oriented businesses

Strategy 3: Increase and continue to increase institutional research and development

Strategy 4: Launch collaborative programs and projects

Strategy 5: Create a trained workforce needed to advance knowledge based economic activity

Strategy 6: Create a true public-private-institutional partnership to connect all of the initiatives.

Benchmarking the RI Knowledge Economy: 

Benchmarking the Rhode Island Knowledge Economy is a compilation of twenty-three different indicators measuring Rhode Island’s capacity and progress toward competing in a knowledge-driven and science and technology based economy. The data for Rhode Island is compared with aggregate U.S.data and New England as a whole, as well as the 27 EPSCoR states, which are those that have been designated by the National Science Foundation as part of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

Existing areas of strength for Rhode Island (Rhode Island’s performance is ranked within the top 20 states): Per Capita Income; High Speed Internet Access; Patents Issued Per 1,000 Residents; Venture Capital Investments; Total R&D Performance; Academic R&D Performance; Not-For-Profit R&D Performance; Federal R&D Obligations; Science and Engineering Degrees Awarded; and Education Attainment – percent of population 25 years or older with a BA or higher degree.

Existing areas of weakness for Rhode Island (Rhode Island’s performance ranks within the bottom 20 states): Gross State Product Growth; Net Migration of Persons 22-39 Years of Age; State Appropriations for Higher Education; Entrepreneurial Climate; Industry R&D Performance; Math Scores for 8th Graders; Scientists and Engineers in the Workforce.

Areas in which Rhode Island has shown improvement during the last five years: Gross State Product Growth; Per Capita Income; High Speed Internet Access; Patents (Utilities Only) Issued to Universities and Colleges; Academic R&D Performance; Federal R&D Obligations; Math Scores for 8th Graders (4 Year Trend); Science and Engineering Degrees Awarded; and Education Attainment – percent of population 25 years or older with a BA or higher degree. 

Areas in which Rhode Island has shown decline over the last five years: Targeted Science and Engineering Sector Employment; State Funding for Science and Technology; State Appropriations for Higher Education; Patents Issued Per 1,000 Residents; Entrepreneurial Climate; Venture Capital Investments; Total SBIR/STTR Investments; Total R&D Performance; Industry R&D Performance; Not-For-Profit R&D Performance; and Scientists and Engineers in the Workforce.

Click here to read the 2012 Executive Summary.

Click here for the 2012 Benchmarking the Rhode Island Knowledge Economy Index.

Click here to read the 2011 Benchmarking the Knowledge Economy Report.

Grant Making:

The IPIC to date has distributed $460,000 in seed grants for projects designed to grow the knowledge economy in the Providence Metro Area. Some of the funded projects include:

AS220 Fab Lab: The Fab Lab, one of only 10 worldwide, builds new technically literate audiences and communities of artists and entrepreneurs by running workshops and providing access to tools, technology and equipment that enable anyone to design on a computer and instantly build new products and inventions. 

Betaspring: Start-ups from around the country come to Providence for Betaspring's intensive 12-week accelerator program, which runs in both Spring and Fall. Betaspring enables teams, with a strong start on a high-growth venture, to rapidly transform into fundable, scalable companies. Throughout the program, startups develop and refine their product, launch it to their target customer groups, and test their delivery and business models. Through interactions with Betaspring mentors and select audiences, each startup polishes their company pitch and product demo, culminating in a presentation to investors and potential partners.

Smart Vaccine Design for Entrepreneurs: A Healthcare Business Startup Training Initiative: This program teaches entrepreneurs, scientists and healthcare workers the theory and practice of smart vaccine design and biotechnology company start-up. 

Toy Technology for Rehabilitative Purposes: Proposal to design toys for rehabilitative purposes for children with cerebral palsy.

The Change Accelerator: A Social Venture Incubator: The Change Accelerator is a social venture Incubator, one of only a handful of such incubators that exist globally. The Change Accelerator provides social entrepreneurs --who have a high impact social venture idea and want to “take it to market”-- with business expertise, mentorship and access to social investors. 

The RICIE Incubator Program: Creates affordable co-working space and programming for entrepreneurs. 

Dormcubator: Twelve students from ten colleges and universities inRhode Island were selected for this program focused on workforce development and retainment. The program objectives: draw greater connectivity to corporate partners looking for a skilled workforce; provide students with a rich experience and opportunity to think of RI as a post-graduate option; and develop students as future ambassadors for the bRIdge program.

Smart Phone Technology for Radiation Oncology Error Prevention: An innovative approach to minimize the incidence of adverse affects with radiotherapy, which potentially may have negative impacts on patient safety. This uniquely designed smart phone will provide legally compliant, “anytime-anywhere” transmission of instructions, check-lists, anatomical images and rapid information exchange to validate CT-simulator scans, computer-based treatment planning data and treatment delivery set-ups.

In the News

Knowledge Economy Headlines

Committee Members