Categories: Post

Chicago’s Potemkin Village: Why our innovation economy has failed, and how to fix it

Since 2012, Chicago has built an estimated 1.5 million square feet of coworking spaces, and about 80 or 90 incubators and accelerators. By any reasonable measure of success, this massive effort has not translated into a competitive market for advanced industries. Chicago has not grown its share of the national venture capital market, and we have not brought more national investment into the region for the purposes of advancing technology. More significantly, Chicago has not kept pace with changes in our industrial economy. Once there were 200,000 Chicagoans employed manufacturing steel; now there are none. With what have we replaced these legacy industries? Thomas Day, the managing partner of Invent2026, will speak about how to leverage the region’s applied research laboratories to build new industries in Chicago–new batteries, sensors for smart farming and monitoring toxins in water, and advanced materials–to reassert Chicago’s presence in the new economy.

c2st

Recent Posts

Science Literacy: Ways of Thinking & Being

As our world is constantly changing with new technology, ideas, and discoveries, it can be…

4 weeks ago

“Like Eating Chocolate”: A Discussion on Positive Gender Experiences with Dr. Will Beischel

Have you ever thought about how your gender might make you feel good? Gender can…

1 month ago

Science with Heart: Dr. Grace Muller’s Mission to Make Cardiac Research Accessible

Biomedical research allows us to better understand how our bodies function, yet this information is…

1 month ago

A Galaxy of Data: Connecting Scientists to the Vera Rubin Observatory

The vast majority of telescopes today observe just one small part of the sky at…

1 month ago

The Power of the Past to Teach us About the Present

Sitting down in my high school history class sometimes felt like such a chore. It…

2 months ago

Closing the Gap: A Conversation on Community, Access, and Oral Health

In Chicago and across the world, millions face painful, preventable dental diseases because the system…

2 months ago