Researchers used an index developed at University Park-based Pennsylvania State University to measure innovation in a way that goes beyond the number of patents granted or amount of money spent — examining instead “the incremental improvements that businesses make to their products and processes as a result of information they obtain from outside their firm,” according to study author Stephan Goetz, PhD, director of Penn State’s Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development.
“Our measure shows that this latent, or hidden, innovation is at least as important to local income and employment growth as patent-level innovation,” Dr. Goetz explained in a Penn State news post.
Using this measure, the researchers found that very high levels of innovation occur across the entire country. Additionally, the research redefined innovation to span hundreds of industries beyond technology, and found that the most innovative areas were those with significant amounts of cross-industry collaboration.
“We often see media articles touting big cities as innovation centers, and our research brings a different perspective to the conversation,” Dr. Goetz said. “Yes, places like Silicon Valley, Seattle and Boston are home to tech firms that are developing entirely new products and technologies. But at the same time many non-tech businesses also engage in innovative activity that is less obvious but nonetheless moving their industries forward and, more importantly, keeping them competitive.”
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