EAGER: Place-Based Innovation Policy Study Group

Award ID: 2232647

This project represents the convening of leading academic researchers in place-based innovation policy and related areas to provide timely insight for the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program. Its objective is to bring together a diverse group of researchers and policymakers to i) provide an assessment of the state of knowledge of place-based innovation ecosystems, and its relationship to both geographic and socioeconomic inclusion, ii) identify the insights of this research to inform innovation policymakers, and iii) surface potential means by which to measure and assess place-based innovation ecosystems on a rigorous and ongoing basis. The project focuses on regional, place-based innovation economies, and it is divided in two phases. In the first phase of the project, a reading group would convene on a regular (monthly) basis to assess the state of the field and open questions around specific topics in the economics of regional innovation ecosystems. These meetings would serve as a precursor to the second phase of the project, a one and a half day research conference bringing together top researchers across several areas of interest to summarize the key insights around each topic and discuss key frontier questions in a discussion panel. Summaries of both the reading group meetings and conference will be developed, serving as a basis for future reference in the development of regional innovation ecosystems. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Sarah Goforth