Universities Join to Reinvigorate Local Tech Scene

Five D.C., Maryland and Virginia universities yesterday announced a partnership aimed at helping the Washington area turn the research and innovations of its scientists and scholars into patents, products and businesses.

Calling the partnership the Chesapeake Crescent Innovation Alliance, the universities hope to reinvigorate the region's technology sector by sharing information on their research with one another and with businesses and investors.

Participants said the Washington area is falling behind in the global competition for innovation and jobs because it is not adequately funding research and development and is not linking the people who have the money and know-how to create businesses with the people who have the ideas.

"We don't play well to our assets," said Charles W. Steger, president of Virginia Tech, one of the five universities in the alliance. The others are the University of Maryland system, George Mason University, George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University.

The alliance is an offshoot of the Chesapeake Crescent Initiative, a broader campaign designed to boost the region's economic and environmental vitality by bringing together area leaders.

Yesterday, the group focused on the technology sector in a summit at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center and called for stronger private-public partnerships.

"For every $1,000 of corporate revenues, Massachusetts invests $90 to $100 in R&D," said Aneesh P. Chopra, Virginia's secretary of technology. "Virginia invests $3 to $5."

And when large corporations such as BP and Bell Labs look for universities to partner with on new research centers, D.C.-area institutions are not even asked to submit proposals, Chopra said.

The region also is lagging behind other states in attracting venture capital, according to alliance members. In 2007, for example, California firms attracted $12 billion in venture capital, while companies in Maryland, the District and Virginia received $1.2 billion, according to David McDonough, director of development for Johns Hopkins Real Estate.

The alliance will focus on addressing such problems first by taking inventory of all the research being done by universities, government labs and private enterprises, as well as successful start-ups. It will consolidate information about regional investors, venture capitalists and other funding sources and push for greater government support, such as tax breaks for investments in research and development.

The initiative is largely voluntary, and the alliance has no funding or staff for its work. But each university already has employees who focus on economic development, research and technology transfer, and those offices plan to coordinate with one another in hopes of better identifying common research efforts and opportunities.

That is one reason the group is starting out with a small group of members, though it eventually hopes to expand to include institutions such as the University of Virginia.

"One of the quickest ways to kill it is to expand to 16 universities," said Alan Merton, president of George Mason University. "Then the incentive for us to work together is not going to happen. Consortiums sink when there's too many people in the boat."

Former AOL chairman Steve Case wrapped up yesterday's summit with words of encouragement and caution for the group.

"As I think back on that summer 25 years ago when I arrived here with our little crazy band of people, it took a while, almost a decade, before we got traction, and everybody thought we were an overnight sensation," Case said. But, he cautioned: "Be pleased with the progress, but don't be comforted by it because there's no question there's an opportunity to do better. We still have a long way to go."