(2009-09-30) Nyc Innovation Economy

The Center For An Urban Future released a report looking at Nyc Challenges in supporting greater Innovation. The study argues that the institutions themselves have been a big part of the problem. It shows that the leaders of the city's universities and nonprofit research centers have not been particularly supportive of efforts to spin off new tech ventures, have not dedicated enough resources to engineering programs and, in many cases, have been too preoccupied with licensing the technologies from university research to existing firms located elsewhere, rather than to start-ups that have the potential to create jobs locally.

Bruce Nussbaum [agrees](http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/Nussbaum On Design/archives/2009/09/new_york_city_i.html) - The Economic Development Corporation in charge of city economic strategy is full of lawyers and one-time business consultants from McKinsey who didn't understand innovation. They weren't aware of the conversation surrounding Design and Design Thinking or the experience of P&G and other corporations in transforming their business models and cultures. The EDC has two plans up and running--one, Jump Start, apprentices 50 ex-bankers in innovative NYC companies, hoping they will "catch" the entrepreneurship bug. There was no scale to it--no way for it to have an actual impact on the New York economy. Another was to build a new MediaLab in NYC--a place that has several state-of-the-art media labs, from RGA to NYU (ITP). Yet another was to renovate a building to make a space for young people to start new companies. New York has that already--it's called Brooklyn Ny... NYC has it's own strength in Design and Media. It needs to harness it's expertise in social media platforms, Design Thinking and Design to develop new delivery systems for its HealthCare and Education industries. New York has the designers and social scientists to understand the cultures of learners, patients, doctors, drivers and build new businesses off that.

Related: Vivek Wadhwa has recommendations on how Entrepreneur-s can work with universities. All research universities have Technology Transfer offices which are assigned the task of commercializing research. They manage all of the patents and negotiate licensing deals. Some of these offices are really competent and will help you analyze their portfolio of discoveries. They'll take the time to explain the value and help you shape your thinking. They will connect you with the inventors and may even team you up with other entrepreneurs and potential investors. But that's Fantasy Land. Unfortunately, very few tech transfer offices are like this. Most are staffed by lawyers and bureaucrats whose purpose in life is to squeeze every dime out of a potential licensor while protecting their butts just in case they asked too little and the technology makes it big. So, you may need to get in through the back door.