Ongoing Working Group Activities

PNWER Congregate: A Solutions Accelerator

Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) is excited to share that we are one of 44 organizations awarded the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Scaling Pandemic Resilience through Innovation and Technology (SPRINT) Challenge Grant announced April 6th by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
 
The SPRINT Grant award will support the creation of “Congregate: A Solutions Accelerator'' focused on scaling solutions that help safely re-open tourism, performing arts, travel, and hospitality (TPATH). With PNWER’s history of working with state and local governments, industry leaders, and innovators on solutions that drive the economy forward, Congregate will:
  • Be a catalyst for innovation in biotechnology, health security, and supply-chain solutions,
  • Increase regional, national, and government connectivity across innovation clusters to support entrepreneurship,
  • Scale models to address the new congregation environments post-pandemic.​

About

Picture"Innovation requires diversity. The best ideas come when you bring together people who think differently" - Brad Smith, President, Microsoft, speaking at PNWER 2017 Annual Summit in Portland, OR.
The competitive landscape of the global economy, coupled with worldwide environmental challenges, is creating unprecedented demand for scientific discovery and application. The Pacific Northwest region must channel the strengths of its many separate resources into a collaborative, comprehensive effort that maximizes the economic benefits of regional innovation. 

PNWER's Innovation Working Group is committed to: 
  • Working with the PNWER Innovation Asset Inventory Survey
  • Refining the purpose statement of the Innovation Working Group
  • Exploring non-traditional models of intellectual property management and bringing suggestions to the working group
  • Developing policy principles that jurisdictions could adopt for greater innovation collaboration and economic development

Resources

Action Items 
2019 Action Items
Communicate University of Washington recommendations with PNWER delegates and representatives from Oregon, Alaska, and Alberta.
Work with host committee to develop an innovation panel or workshop for the PNWER Winter Summit in Seattle (potentially related to the Working Port or Smart Cities).
Identify a group of EDCs and districts for which to map capabilities (e.g. Co.Labs/Innovate Saskatoon, Launch Alaska, WEDA, Oregon Coastal Caucus) with a focus on presenting results of cross-region collaboration at next PNWER Summit.
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Past Webinars

Remote Workers and the Rise of the Main Street: Innovating Our Way out of a Crisis Webinar Series
Wednesday, August 5 | 1:00 - 2:00 pm PDT​
Watch the Webinar Here

COVID-19 has disproportionately affected urban cores of cities due to population density, shared resources, and the difficulty of minimizing person-to-person spread. Additionally, it has introduced millions of workers to tools for remote productivity. If managed and planned for effectively, this could spark a golden age for small and medium sized cities. This panel will feature three smaller towns in the PNW and highlight how they are positioning to grow in the emerging new economy by levering their incumbent capabilities, strategic planning, and welcoming remote workers. We will discuss such topics as broadband requirements, inclusive growth, and virtual agglomeration.
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Innovating our Way Out of A Crisis: The Four Phases of Response Webinar
Monday, June 22 | 1 pm - 2 pm PDT
Watch the Webinar Here

COVID-19 has shaken the world economy to its core – bringing cities and national economies to a grinding halt. But like any large machine, the U.S. and global economies will need an orderly restart to get humming again. We will recover from this, but economic patterns have changed. Localities that identify these changes and innovate to address emergent challenges will be the ones that prosper.  As we reopen the economy, what lessons will we learn, and how will we retool to make the Pacific Northwest economic region even more vibrant than it once was?
  • Margaret O'Mara, Howard & Frances Keller Endowed Professor, Department of History, University of Washington and author of The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America
  • Senator Mia Costello, Alaska State Senator, PNWER Innovation Co-Chair
  • Nirav Desai, CEO, Moonbeam Exchange, PNWER Innovation Co-Chair

Read PNWER Innovation Co-Chairs' Op-ed on Innovating Our Way Out of a Crisis: The Four Phases of Response

Leadership
Nirav Desai
Senior Partner & CEO
Moonbeam
Co-chair
Sen. Mia Costello
State Senator
Alaska State Legislature
Co-chair

PNWER Staff
Steve Myers
Senior Program Manager, PNWER​
steve.myers@pnwer.org
p: 206-443-7723
f: 206-443-7703
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