Bedminster, NJ, July 15, 2010 — Making the most of New Jersey’s heritage as a home to innovation and invention will be the key to creating the jobs of the future, and the ongoing goal of a new coalition called Innovation NJ, dedicated to fostering partnerships between businesses and institutions of higher education.
An announcement of the new coalition was made July 15 at AT&T’s Global Network Operations Center in Bedminster.
The event was hosted by Michael Schweder, president of AT&T New Jersey; who was joined by Thomas F. Degnan Jr., chairman of the Research & Development Council of New Jersey and manager of Breakthrough and Leads Generation for ExxonMobil; Judith Sheft, associate vice president for Technology Development at the New Jersey Institute of Technology; Dr. Kathleen W. Scotto, vice president of Research and interim dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; and Maxine Ballen, president and CEO of the NJ Technology Council at the event.
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno also participated in the press conference, speaking about the NJ Partnership for Action, the Christies Administration’s three-prong approach to economic development and job creation in the state.
The goal of the coalition is to make New Jersey the best state for hi-tech businesses that rely on turning cutting-edge research and development into life-saving medicines, must-have consumer products, and highly advanced technology services. Such companies offer tremendous opportunities for job growth and typically pay better-than-average salaries.
Innovation NJ will push for government policies that will increase corporate-academic collaboration on research, maintain better public data bases, and promote New Jersey’s university research assets. The goal is to help provide existing companies with new technologies, attract new hi-tech companies to New Jersey and help universities attract top research talent.
New Jersey has a storied history when it comes to innovation. Such items as the telegraph (Edison), the adhesive bandage (Johnson and Johnson), the transistor (Bell Labs), the color television (RCA), streptomycin (Rutgers), and measles and mumps vaccines (Merck) were all invented in New Jersey. Innovation NJ intends to build on that history to make New Jersey a center for innovation and invention.
Since Bell System engineers achieved the first voice transmission across the Atlantic in 1915, AT&T has been a catalyst for innovation on a global scale, continuing to this day in New Jersey in facilities that are showpieces for innovation: AT&T Labs in Middletown and the Global Network Operations Center in Bedminster.
“AT&T respects the breadth and scope of what New Jersey has contributed to a global economy,” said AT&T’s Schweder. “New Jersey is a center for advanced research, and we are pleased to be a part of the Innovation NJ coalition, a vibrant, unparalleled organization that will contribute to reviving New Jersey’s economy and quality of life.
Added the R&D Council’s Degnan: “New Jersey′s culture of innovation and its high concentration of scientists and engineers are two significant reasons why companies choose to conduct their R&D here. Strengthening this ‘culture of innovation’ will be critical to future job creation and growth and to keeping New Jersey an innovation hub.
Many states are already creating partnerships between corporations and universities where academic research is put to practical use in the business world. New Jersey, however, is falling behind. The state now ranks 18th in the nation in total university research and development expenditures, and 27th in the nation — a full 14 percent below the national average — in the percent of its university research that’s funded by private industry. (Source: 2007 National Science Foundation and MEP Consulting analysis.)
“New Jersey’s biomedical research community, with partners in academia and industry, represents an invaluable asset to the state,” UMDNJ’s Dr. Scotto said. “The Innovation NJ coalition will provide the infrastructure to focus our strengths, enhance our dialogue and channel our creativity, so that the pace of discovery accelerates and our most severe health risks are eliminated.”
“Invention and innovation together are key drivers of economic prosperity resulting from the implementation of new technologies, new processes and new behaviors,” said NJIT’s Sheft. “New Jersey has a strong foundation of academic and industry resources and capabilities that in partnership are the basis for long-term economic growth in the state at both an entrepreneurial and corporate level.”
Taking advantage of New Jersey’s tremendous academic resources and focusing the private-sector economy on new technologies will be the key to creating the jobs of the future.
“Innovation is at the very heart of New Jersey’s future,” according to the Technology Council’s Ballen. “Having an innovation-friendly environment is a prerequisite to having a competitive business climate and economic growth. Innovation attracts investment and new companies who want to relocate to an area where collaborative partners exist, as well as creating high-paying jobs. We must maximize all potential opportunities to stimulate innovation in the state.”
The press conference was part of Innovation Week in New Jersey, which also featured appearances from former House Majority Leader and Presidential Candidate Richard Gephardt, unveiling new policy recommendations to promote medical innovation and a report on business-higher education partnerships by the NJ Policy Research Organization (NJPRO).