Jump Into New Jersey’s Innovation Ecosystem
Across the globe, countries are seeking to harness the power of the invention to innovation pipeline to drive economic growth and address a wide range of societal issues including national security, health, inequity, education, and environmental challenges. It is estimated that 85% of a country’s economic growth can be attributed to innovation.

However, an innovation economy is an ecosystem that requires various factors working together to thrive and achieve the desired economic outcomes. These factors include:

• An ongoing base of inventions from academia and industry
• A source of risk capital to support inventions from ideation and early R&D through subsequent demonstration to market commercialization
• A talented workforce at all levels
• Infrastructure, service providers and facilities necessary to implement the range of activities from lab to market
• A culture of innovation that celebrates innovation in all its forms

Innovation is New Jersey’s birthright. The Garden State has been home to key innovations in numerous industries including the steam locomotive, air conditioning, condensed soup, whitening toothpaste, Band-Aids, the antibiotic tetracycline, and barcodes, to name just a few. New Jersey was Silicon Valley before there was a Silicon Valley with the invention of the transistor at Bell Labs in Murray Hill. In the bio pharma field, New Jersey is known as the “medicine chest of the world.”

An innovation ecosystem is comprised of various stakeholders creating a dynamic web of linkages and cross linkages. A critical component for a healthy innovation ecosystem is its underlying culture. An ecosystem that is open to all with a high degree of inclusivity in which players trust each other, are willing to collaborate and are flexible is an ecosystem that is sustainable leading long-term growth,
Innovation is key to the future success of communities, countries, and the planet. I encourage everyone to jump into New Jersey’s innovation ecosystems, link and leverage resources and collaborate with different organizations to catalyze positive economic outcomes.