SSTI 2011 Annual Conference: Innovative Economies Creating Our Future

SSTI's conference is the premier event for sharing ideas on the best ways to encourage technology-based economic development and foster regional prosperity in a global economy.

No longer limited to a niche group of practitioners, promoting growth through innovation and technology has achieved widespread acceptance as the key to our economic prosperity. You'll find it in blog posts and opinion pages from across the political spectrum, and in virtually every corporate or civic dialogue today on revitalizing America's economy.

Meanwhile, most state and local governments — where the majority of funding for technology-based economic development (TBED) comes from — are experiencing a fiscal crisis that won't go away anytime soon. Also, activities funded directly by universities are feeling the pinch. Then there's the federal budget situation.

More initiatives embrace the importance of supporting innovation-based companies while already limited resources for these programs become more scarce. Ironic isn't it?

Put simply, all of economic development is at a crossroads. And at SSTI's 15th Annual Conference, we're going to make sense out of it all.

We're bringing together leaders in the field to share best practices and lessons learned, so you walk away with practical tips and new ideas to apply, including those that can have an impact even with a limited budget. And we'll also look at the latest developments in the field and when they make sense for your area.

Working together we'll also consider what we need to do as a field to meet our challenges:

The real metrics we need to use to assess our impact;
Techniques for telling our message better to stakeholders;
How to work more collaboratively and more creatively; and,
What we need to do in the short and long term to adapt to our new realities.
Visit the rest of the site to begin planning positive change to create economic growth through innovation and technology. We'll see you November 8-9 in Columbus!