High-tech innovation happening in R.I., report says

RHODE ISLAND HAD $526 million in high-tech manufacturing exports, according to a report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation in Washington, D.C. / COURTESY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION FOUNDATION
RHODE ISLAND HAD $526 million in high-tech manufacturing exports, according to a report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation in Washington, D.C. / COURTESY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION FOUNDATION

PROVIDENCE – High-tech innovation plays a critical role in the economy in Rhode Island, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a study released Tuesday.
The ITIF, a Washington, D.C.-based independent, nonpartisan research and educational institute focusing on technological innovation and public policy, said high-tech innovation is shaping the Ocean State.
“The myopic view that the high-tech economy is only Silicon Valley and a few other bright spots like Boston or North Carolina’s Research Triangle is flat wrong,” Robert D. Atkinson, ITIF’s president, said in a statement. “Indeed, both districts in Rhode Island have some kind of tech-driven activity occurring locally. This should serve as a signal to every member of Congress from Rhode Island and the rest of the country that tech matters to their states and districts, so they should support broad-based, bipartisan policies to spur further innovation and growth at home and across the nation.”

The foundation said it examined 20 indicators of the innovation-driven high-tech economy – traditional economic data such as technology exports and newer metrics such as broadband deployment — to paint statistical portraits of all 435 U.S. congressional districts, 50 states, and the District of Columbia.
It said it found a nation in which the “drivers of high-tech innovation are widely diffused.”
Rhode Island, for example, ranked among the top 10 states for the following indicators of the innovation-driven high-tech economy:

  • Average number of broadband providers per household at 7.6 (#6)
  • 25Mbps broadband coverage 99.3 percent (#1)
  • 10Mbps broadband coverage 99.9 percent (#5)

Rhode Island also has $526 million in high-tech manufacturing exports and $130 million in information technology services exports. It has 35,263 high-tech workers, representing nearly 7 percent of the total workforce; 25,165 science, technology, engineering and math workers, representing 4.9 percent of the workforce; and 11,854 computer and math workers, representing 47.1 percent of the STEM workers.

Said Atkinson, “We urge members of Congress and other policymakers to find common cause in advancing an agenda that continues to build up the foundations of an innovation-driven economy, including a highly skilled workforce, robust research and development spending, digital-age infrastructure and globally competitive tech-driven industries. It’s the surest way to raise productivity, bolster competitiveness and boost wages.”

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