Saturday, March 26, 2005
Arizona has a new report that proposes a pathway to building a stronger bioscience cluster in the state. Read more. You can download the report here.
The report, although interesting, misses the big opportunity: moving to entirely new models of health care. Places like Arizona have advantages over more well-established medical regions. Newer regions do not have the same entrenched interests, and their institutions are not burdened by the same cost structures.
In a word, they can be more nimble. Yet, to take full advantage of this opportunity, leaders in the newer medical regions must develop "leap-frog" business models of patient care.
Trying simply to replicate what's in San Diego, Boston or the Bay Area is a fool's game. (In this sense, I agree with the 2002 Brookings report, Signs of Life: The Growth of Biotechnology Centers in the U.S.. The report cautions against expecting too much from biotech investments.) The real opportunity in health care for emerging regions is not developing biotech, but innovating with new approaches to patient care.
posted by Ed Morrison |
links
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber:
Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Building Arizona's bioscience cluster
