Louisiana is making some initial progress towards an economy diversified beyond traditional sectors, but there is much more work to accomplish. Other states, at the same time, are not standing still. States with a strategic focus on innovation as a basis for economic development are at a competitive advantage for ensuring faster employment growth than states based heavily on mature, slower growth industries.
Louisiana must recognize creative ideas implemented in practical ways that generate wealth will fuel an innovation-based economy. A statewide strategic focus towards generating these types of creative ideas will require bold shifts in support for research and development across academia and the private sector.
A general recommendation is that universities and state government must recognize that the innovation process from basic idea to commercialization success is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor. In order to expect the rewards and gains promised by a healthy innovation-based economy, public entities must assume the risks and be tolerant for failures. This requires evaluating innovation successes based on magnitude rather than frequency. As an illustration, consider that Babe Ruth is ranked in the top 100 for both home runs (714) and strike outs (1,330). These recommendations are oriented towards constructing an innovation ecosystem that offers the best chances at hitting innovation homeruns, but the state should recognize and anticipate strikeouts, too.
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