Two of the South’s most prominent native sons — Ben Bernanke and Newt Gingrich — agree it is important. President Barack Obama calls it “essential to our progress.” What issue can possibly make Republican, Democratic and financial leaders sing kumbaya in the age of hyper-partisanship?
It’s increased funding for research and innovation. And while the support is broad, the payoff on these investments has a long horizon, creating difficult decisions for leaders debating investments in the future versus covering current commitments.
One thing is clear, say Bernanke and many others: Research and innovation have been a transformative factor for economies throughout the world, especially during the past two centuries. Whether they develop weaponry, medicine or technology, innovative societies usually come out ahead.
Federal research in the 1970s and 1980s led to the development of the Internet in the 1990s, ushering in a technology boom that helped the U.S. escape the economic doldrums of the early 1990s. At Georgetown University in May, Bernanke referenced another example when he talked about advances in semiconductor technology that have changed communications and technology.
The thinking is this: As we grapple with the structural challenges to our national and state budgets, which are driven by a growing debt load coupled with increasing entitlement and health care costs for an aging population, a new economic paradigm compelled by innovation and technology could help us escape the budget trap.
For more than two decades, Georgia has been a leader in funding research. In fact, 21 years ago Gov. Zell Miller joined with Georgia’s business leadership in founding the Georgia Research Alliance, or GRA, which is still a national model for innovation- and technology-based economic development.
Since 1990, GRA’s targeted investments in talent and infrastructure have resulted in the creation of hundreds of companies, billions of dollars of federal funding for Georgia and thousands of well-paying private sector jobs. For example, by luring Dr. Allan Kirk to Emory University, support from the National Institutes of Health tripled for research in transplant immunology, leading to dramatic improvements the quality of life for transplant survivors. A company incubated at Georgia Tech and supported very early by GRA — Suniva — is now one of the nation’s top manufacturers of solar cells and panels, employing 200 Georgians. And at the University of Georgia, GRA Eminent Scholars and associated Centers of Excellence have attracted tens of millions of dollars in new funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop novel approaches for improving human and animal health worldwide.
Despite GRA’s successes, budget writers grappled with an overall funding shortfall last year and decided to slash the GRA budget for 2012. Fortunately, Gov. Nathan Deal and his team did their homework on innovation and salvaged a significant portion of the budget to fund high-tech equipment, researchers and facilities (GRA’s administrative and overhead costs are paid by the private sector, not taxpayers.) This decision allows GRA to remain an innovation catalyst, driving academic discoveries and linking them to the private sector to create jobs for Georgians.
We anticipate tough budget years ahead. Just as our national leaders are taking a close look at funding “the here and now” versus the future, it’s imperative that we have the same discussion in Georgia with the understanding that using research to grow our own opportunities might be the best investment we can make.
Mike Cassidy is president of the Georgia Research Alliance.
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