New public-private partnership aims to make GA tech capital of the East Coast

Private companies across the state have joined local government to bolster innovation in Georgia.

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan's office announced the launch of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, a public-private partnership dedicated to making Georgia the tech capital of the Eastern seaboard.

Duncan said the key focus of the partnership is to ensure government supports a wide-ranging group of stakeholders in the state's innovation ecosystem --- including startups, small businesses, the private sector, health care and more.

"We define inclusive innovation as improving access and opportunities for all Georgians. Inclusive innovation breaks down existing silos and creates an opportunity for people across the innovation ecosystem to thrive together," Duncan told Atlanta Inno. "In Georgia, we have a unique and diverse economic, geographic and demographic energy of our state – which provides a strong foundation for inclusive innovation to occur right here in our own backyard, as well as across the state."

"We have an invested and committed business climate, a robust educational system with top institutions like Georgia State University and Georgia Institute of Technology, as well as strong partnerships with reputable entities like the Centers for Disease Control," he added. "The Partnership for Inclusive Innovation seeks to tap into this entire network of innovators and leaders to forge a path for all Georgians."

On the government side, Duncan said they will focus on growing talent in addition to attracting new talent to the state.

"The partnership will leverage relationships with local chambers of commerce who can identify the local innovation and technology players, programs and resources in their community," he said. "We seek to provide support and a connected statewide network to bolster the work they have underway and inspire even more citizens across our state to get involved in this journey."

Dr. G.P. “Bud” Peterson, president emeritus of the Georgia Institute of Technology, will lead the partnership as the board chair along with Debra Lam, the executive director of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation. The partnership will implement recommendations from the Georgia Innovates Taskforce.

When asked how the partnership would play a role in the startup ecosystem, Duncan said the startup community is a key player in the broader innovation ecosystem of Georgia. The goal is to ensure Georgia's innovation community and technology players are nurtured and empowered to take the state to the next level.

"We’ve intentionally built the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation as a very lean organization," he said. "Our main focus and target for funding is the local innovation players – from startups to local government to the private sector. Through pilot programs born from the Georgia Innovates Taskforce recommendations, we aim to provide the support these key players need to be successful, while ensuring they maintain ownership of their efforts so that once they are successful, their programs will sustain for the long term."

The organization will direct a series of high-impact, low-cost pilot programs – including K-12 digital readiness, advanced food supply innovation and regional industry/education collaboratives. The first set of pilot programs includes civic data science for equitable development in Savannah, a traffic monitoring and communication system project in Valdosta that will connect all 128 traffic signals for safety and efficiency and more.

Duncan's office reports more pilots will begin in the coming months. When asked how the pandemic would impact the partnership's efforts, Duncan said the unexpected impact of the pandemic on their efforts creates a new sense of urgency and window of opportunity when it comes to technology and innovation. He said the partnership was the first of its kind in that it’s the first public-private partnership built entirely virtually from the ground up.

"Never before have these two sectors been so important for our country and our state," he said. "For example, Covid-19 has created unprecedented challenges for our education system. Digital readiness and digital learning has never been more important. One of our pilot program goals is to increase digital readiness across the state by building teacher capacity and requiring GA K-12 systems/all 182 school districts to offer computer science as part of their curriculum. Additionally, we want to continue to allow the local school systems and regions to choose their pathways and create the infrastructure for sharing teacher expertise across regions."

The partnership will run under a board of high-ranking Georgia executives across the Fortune 500 and innovation space. Here are the board members: