Strengthening Innovation Ecosystems Federal agencies and state governments make significant investments in the research and development of energy technologies to address critical National mission needs. There remains at this time however, significant unrealized commercial potential from these investments due to the “valley of death” that exists between a research prototype and a commercialized product. New coordinated regional public-private partnerships are needed to bridge the valley of death and accelerate the development and deployment of these energy innovations.
The Northwest Energy Innovation Alliance (NEIA) is a consortium that has been formed to address this challenge. The NEIA marshals the Northwest (NW) Region’s innovation capabilities, resources, markets and opportunities to accelerate the transition of energy technologies to increase U.S. prosperity, competitiveness and job creation. The NEIA consists of member organizations from five NW states (AK, ID, OR, MT, WA) representing strong regional energy research, technology, business, financial and educational assets. It aims to develop a globally competitive energy industry sector in the Northwest
… that draws upon energy-focused R&D from regional institutions
… and is globally recognized as one of the sought-out locations
… for energy companies, professionals and policy makers to locate.
In short, the NEIA aspires to make the NW region an energy technology peer to California and New York.
The NEIA drives energy innovation through coordination of its members’ capabilities and programs that span the energy technology lifecycle - from research and development to prototyping, technology validation, pilot projects, and commercial demonstrations. Alliance members’ efforts will be aligned along a common Innovation Value Chain for transforming ideas and early stage prototypes into commercial outputs. This panel will feature NEIA members discussing approaches to strengthening innovation ecosystems, with a focus on the NW energy sector.
Moderator:
- Malin M. Young, Ph.D., Deputy Director for Science and Technology, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Participants:
- Mike Hagood, Director, Regional Initiatives, INL
- Tom Ranken, CEO and President, CleanTech Alliance
- David Kenney, President & Executive Director, Oregon BEST
- George Roe, Research Professor, University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Alaska Center for Energy and Power
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