‘Cities are where innovation ecosystems can thrive’: Steve Tang

A friendly reminder from Steve Tang: you’re nothing on your own.

The president and CEO of the University City Science Center focused on the importance of “innovation ecosystems” in a blog post for the U.S. Commerce Department. Tang is a member of the Commerce Department’s advisory board on innovation, where he’s meant to represent the interests of local entrepreneurs. It met for the first time in Washington, D.C. last week.

“One person alone, or even one industry alone, does not an ecosystem make!” Tang wrote. “Instead, innovation thrives in a rainforest-like atmosphere when disparate, yet related groups convene, connect and have the opportunity to collaborate.”

He continued:

Cities and regions are poised to be the defining platform to grow innovation ecosystems. They are the rainforests where these innovation ecosystems can thrive. They also provide a hospitable environment for scalable innovation. I believe that scaling – the process of transitioning from the start-up to the manufacturing phase in a company’s early life – is the key to fulfilling the promise of innovation and creating good jobs.

For the Science Center’s part, it serves as an important part of the local ecosystem by providing real estate for labs, offices and event spaces and also funding tech transfer efforts.

It and other West Philly institutions were featured in a Brookings Institution report last summer on “innovation districts.”