The U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday named Philadelphia one of 31 tech hubs across the country that are now eligible for up to $500 million in federal funds to help increase innovation in more corners of the country.
The Greater Philadelphia Region Precision Medicine Tech Hub scored the designation to advance biotechnology precision and prediction. The coalition consists of more than 50 organizations across New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania and is led by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania. The groups came together to vie for the bid.
Greater Philadelphia is one of just five regions to receive the designation for biotechnology. Other such hubs are in Wisconsin, Baltimore, Birmingham and Minnesota.
Tech hub winners were selected from a pool of nearly 400 applicants.
Part of the Biden administration's Tech Hubs program and authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act, the effort is designed to add jobs and boost technology innovation in cities beyond the traditional tech powerhouses of Silicon Valley and Boston.
In Philadelphia, it's an affirmation of the region's strength in life sciences and cell and gene therapy. Those industries continue to be a driver of the regional economy, and the designation gives stakeholders an opportunity to continue to advance Philadelphia as a national and global leader in biotechnology.
Scott Nissenbaum, the CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners, said that the federal designation "validates what we in the innovation community here in our region have felt for a while: the opportunity that innovation can yield for both diverse regional impact and global progress is real, and is happening right now."
The organization said it is hopeful that the designation helps "accelerate both the Greater Philadelphia region’s global competitiveness, and its equitable delivery" of new products, tools and interventions in biotechnology.
The Greater Philadelphia Region Precision Medicine Tech Hub's organizations are working to innovate and deploy precision medicine technology. Precision medicine is health care that is tailored to each individual patient and informed by aspects like DNA and other data points. The coalition will leverage technology efforts like artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics to treat, diagnose and prevent diseases.
The Tech Hubs program will invest "directly in burgeoning, high-potential U.S. regions and aims to transform them into globally competitive innovation centers," the Commerce Department said in a statement announcing the selected regions.
The hubs are located across 32 states and Puerto Rico. They include quantum computing hubs in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin; ocean tech hubs in Rhode Island and Massachusetts; a predictive health-care hub in Maryland; and a hub for sustainable plastics and rubbers in Ohio.
Being named a tech hub is a win for Greater Philadelphia, given the majority of tech funding today flows to the Bay Area, though its tech dominance has been lessened in recent years as more cities across the U.S. see their innovation ecosystems grow. Artificial intelligence innovation in particular has been concentrated in the Bay Area and a handful of other "superstar" tech cities, a development The Brookings Institution recently noted could lead to brain drain from other metros as the AI sector grows.
Overall, the tech hubs program seeks to increase efforts to make the rest of the country more competitive for tech talent.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is rooted in policies that will empower the United States to out-innovate and out-compete the rest of the world," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in the Commerce Department's statement. "Our Tech Hubs Program is fundamental to that mission and will supercharge innovation across the nation by spurring cutting-edge technological investments and creating 21st century job opportunities in people’s backyards."
Here are all of the tech hubs announced Monday:
Safe and Effective Autonomous Systems
- Headwaters Hub – smart photonic sensor systems in Montana
- Ocean Tech Hub – ocean robotics, sensors and materials in Rhode Island and Massachusetts
- Trustworthy & Equitable Autonomous Systems Tech Hub – secure autonomous systems in Oklahoma
Maintaining Our Quantum Edge
- Elevate Quantum Colorado – quantum information technology in Colorado
- The Bloch Tech Hub – quantum computing and communications in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin
Advancing Biotechnology: Drugs and Devices
- Advanced Pharma Manufacturing Tech Hub – active pharma ingredient manufacturing in Virginia
- ReGen Valley Tech Hub – organ and tissue biofabrication in New Hampshire
- iFab Tech Hub – precision fermentation and biomanufacturing in Illinois
- Kansas City Inclusive Biologics and Biomanufacturing Tech Hub – vaccine-related biologics and manufacturing in Missouri and Kansas
- Heartland BioWorks – biologics manufacturing in Indiana
- PRBio Tech Hub – biopharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing in Puerto Rico
Advancing Biotechnology: Precision and Prediction
- Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub – personalized medicine in Wisconsin
- Baltimore Tech Hub – predictive healthcare in Maryland
- Birmingham Biotechnology Hub – equitable AI-driven biotechnology in Alabama
- Greater Philadelphia Region Precision Medicine Tech Hub – end-to-end precision medicine in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey
- Minnesota MedTech 3.0 - smart medical technologies in Minnesota and Wisconsin
Accelerating Our Energy Transition
- Gulf Louisiana Offshore Wind Propeller – offshore wind and renewable energy in Louisiana
- Intermountain-West Nuclear Energy Tech Hub – small modular reactors and microreactors in Idaho and Wyoming
- SC Nexus for Advanced Resilient Energy – clean energy supply chain in South Carolina and Georgia
- South Florida Climate Resilience Tech Hub – sustainable and climate resilient infrastructure in Florida
- New Energy New York (NENY) Battery Tech Hub – end-to-end battery development and manufacturing in New York
Strengthening Our Critical Minerals Supply Chain
- Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy (CM2AE) Tech Hub – critical mineral processing in Missouri
- Nevada Lithium Batteries and Other EV Material Loop – lithium batteries and electric vehicle materials in Nevada
Regaining Leadership in Semiconductor Manufacturing
- Texoma Semiconductor Innovation Consortium – fablet-based semiconductor manufacturing in Texas and Oklahoma
- Corvallis Microfluidics Tech Hub – microfluidics platforms in Oregon
- Advancing GaN Tech Hub – gallium nitride-based semiconductors in Vermont
- NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub – end-to-end semiconductor manufacturing in New York
Growing the Future of Materials Manufacturing
- Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub – sustainable plastics and rubbers in Ohio
- Forest Bioproducts Advanced Manufacturing Tech Hub – sustainable wood biomass polymers in Maine
- American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Tech Hub – aerospace materials manufacturing in Washington and Idaho
- Pacific Northwest Mass Timber Tech Hub – mass timber manufacturing and design in Washington and Oregon
