Building a Tech Innovation Ecosystem in Newark

Innovation lately feels synonymous with the digital entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley or the high-tech corridor of Route 128 outside Boston. But when Thomas Edison opened his first research lab in the 1870s, it was in Newark, New Jersey. A few years later, in nearby Menlo Park, he invented the light bulb. Now, Newark is working to build a new, inclusive tech innovation ecosystem that goes beyond this legacy.

On this episode, host Lisa Margonelli is joined by Fay Cobb Payton and Lyneir Richardson, who are both at Rutgers University. Payton directs the Institute for Data, Research, and Innovation Science (IDRIS) and Lyneir is the executive director of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development. Together they have been pioneering data-led innovation and business accelerators with a diverse group of entrepreneurs.

Resources

Read Senator Andy Kim’s vision for New Jersey’s Einstein Corridor. 

Learn more about the Exit to Win accelerator by watching this video. 

Check out more Issues articles on regional economic development. 

• “Cultivating Mastery in Place” by Maryann Feldman and Alaina Kayaani-George. Diné entrepreneurs entwine economic renewal with mutual obligation, providing a model of regional economic development that serves the community.
• “Revisiting the Connection Between Innovation, Education, and Regional Economic Growth” by Grace J. Wang. What have we learned over the past 40 years about how to generate sustained economic growth through scientific research and technological innovation?
• “Place-Based Economic Development” by Maryann Feldman. 
• “Lessons from Baltimore for Participatory Research” by Alvin Hathaway Sr. A pastor and community organizer explains what a landmark Black neuroscience study needed to gain insight, influence, and credibility.