Our Objectives

CONNECT offers a few key objectives for our regional innovation economy as fundamental to future competitiveness:

research institutions are the engines of discovery and we should unite to recruit and retain the most talented researchers anywhere and offer support for increased federal funding of basic research;
intellectual property is our primary asset and we should be diligent about protecting our discoveries around the world;
the global economy requires ever increasing partnerships to remain competitive and as a region we should reach out nationally and internationally and share our contacts;
communication between academic leaders and the private sector will be even more essential to the innovation economy and we should develop ways to continue to improve; and
risk capital is the fuel of innovation and we must develop new and sustainable models to fund innovation;
recruitment of talented entrepreneurial leaders and creative scientists and engineers is essential and we need to develop tools to ensure we remain competitive.

If one evaluates these goals, it becomes apparent that public policy in Washington and Sacramento holds many of the keys to our future success. Federal support of research is the lifeblood of the new idea generation. Intellectual property laws, trade policy and regulation are set largely by Washington policy makers and these policies will determine much of our global competitiveness. Workforce and education are both federal and state governed. As a region, we must become more engaged with our legislators and CONNECT is committed to improving communication with our Washington and Sacramento legislators.

CONNECT operates at the nexus of the regional innovation economy. We connect research institutions, angel, venture and institutional capital providers, R&D and business development arms of corporations, leading professional services providers and trade organizations together to accelerate the commercialization of innovation. As the economy experiences a very difficult time, we should remember that there remain many unmet needs and opportunities such as healthcare, communications, environment and security. Our region is well-positioned to deliver solutions and we should do all we can to make them a reality.

CONNECT’s board of directors – leaders in the technology sector – have initiated major strategic initiatives to support:

research excellence and commercialization of innovation;
the research and technology communities in the recruiting and retention of talent; and
more effective matchmaking of early- and growth-stage innovation with grants, seed, angel and early-stage capital sources.

In addition, we have rolled out new cluster initiatives to facilitate the further growth and success of additional areas of strength in San Diego, including clean technology, action and sports innovation, unmanned systems and cyber technology. Our clean technology initiative led to the formation of the trade organization CleanTECH San Diego this past year.

To track our progress, we have launched the CONNECT Innovation Quarterly Report. The Report includes CONNECT-track – the first comprehensive look at new business creation in the technology-based innovation sector across California, along with these four additional indicators of economic innovation in San Diego:

new patent applications,
research grant awards,
institutional research employment, and
angel and venture capital investment

CONNECT is partnering with the San Diego Institute for Policy Research, UCSD Extension, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP to gather and present the data and trend analyses. The results will provide a valuable indicator of the economic strength and impact of the knowledge economy in San Diego for business leaders, policy makers and researchers.

At CONNECT we are grateful for the support of our thousands of volunteers and more than 200 members who give generously of their time and resources to invest in the innovative economy in San Diego.