Enhancing Innovation in Massachusetts

Research innovation is the keystone of the Massachusetts economy.  We have one of the world’s leading concentrations of knowledge-based industries, and we are home to some of the best private and public research universities in the world.

With national prominence in winning federal Small Business Innovation Research contracts and patents, National Institutes of Health funding, and federal R&D funding for universities and hospitals, Massachusetts is one of the most R&D intensive economies in the world.  We also excel with concentrations of talented men and women, risk capital, and entrepreneurs.

With the increasingly fast pace of globalization and economic change, innovation is of growing importance to the Commonwealth and its residents.   Universities and their research programs are increasingly important to the regions of the Commonwealth in which they are located.  Regions now compete with major centers of innovation and technology globally, as well as nationally, to attract research and development investment; to start, grow, and retain companies; and to attract and retain the talent that provides the foundation for innovation. Massachusetts remains highly competitive in many aspects of the innovation economy, but nations and states are redoubling their efforts and gaining in some quarters.   Massachusetts’ research enterprise continues to be critical to our economic future.

Among our many important partners in the Innovation Economy, the Innovation Institute supports partners and clients who are undertaking research and commercialization projects. Two examples are the Centers for Excellence (COE).