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Summit to focus on knowledge-based economy
By Sheila Watson
Contributing Writer
The sixth annual ThinkTec Summit to be held in May will focus on a topic that even top-level economists find difficult to wrap their arms around: the knowledge-based economy.
“Advancing a Knowledge-Based Economy” aims to provide information and networking for entrepreneurs and early-stage business owners who want to grow a company in a knowledge-based industry.
The difficulty for economists is not only the concept of such an industry, but also in measuring its impact.
“A knowledge-based economy is extremely important, and it grows every year,” said Arnold Hite, professor of economics at Charleston Southern University. “But knowledge is a hard thing to measure because it’s so transitory. The great idea you come up with this year might be replaced by someone else’s great idea next year. Economically speaking, it’s very dynamic—almost chaotic—because its value changes so rapidly.”
The basics of a knowledge-based economy are not particularly different from other assets, Hite said.
“But the swings in value for the economy, when you factor in knowledge-based elements, happen much more quickly than they did 20 years ago,” he said.
A recent BusinessWeek article points out that, “Everyone knows (the United States) is well down the road to becoming a knowledge economy, one driven by ideas and innovation. What you may not realize is that the government’s decades-old system of number collection and crunching captures investments in equipment, buildings and software but, for the most part, misses the growing portion of GDP that is generating the cool, game-changing ideas.”
The article posits that without adjusting the yardstick we use to measure the economy, the data may be skewed, which could make predicting trends a challenge for economists.
Beyond the measurements
The choice of the topic for the summit is an indication that ThinkTEC is less concerned with measurement than with development of a knowledge-based economy.
“There’s tremendous support from legislators and from economic development people for this conference because they realize the value of going in this direction,” said Pennie Bingham, ThinkTEC’s director. “Everyone seems to be on the same page that this is the way to go.”
Bingham said the trend toward knowledge-based companies is not particular to this region.
“If you travel around the country, you’ll see every other region is looking to develop this too,” she said. “So we have to be extra smart and determine what industries within the knowledge-based arena can work best here.”
There are significant benefits to advancing a knowledge-based economy in this region, Bingham said.
“The knowledge-based arena provides the highest paying jobs and lowest impact on your quality of life,” she said. “You don’t have to build a new road in order to accommodate this industry.”
Conference specifics
The conference will be held May 8-9 at Trident Technical College’s Complex for Economic Development and is expected to attract between 250 and
300 attendees.
The conference will incorporate the results of the latest study conducted by Texas-based consulting firm AngelouEconomics and will focus on the needs of the entrepreneur for starting, funding, marketing, staffing, protecting and exiting a knowledge-based business, Bingham said.
In addition, several items were added to this year’s conference, including a pre-conference day of tours to the Hollings Cancer Center, the Clemson Restoration Institute’s CSS H.L. Hunley project and Trident Technical College’s Technology and Culinary Arts centers.
“Last year, for the first time, we included an exhibition area for those who provide services or products to the knowledge-based industry,” said Bingham. “This year, we’re beefing up the exhibition area and adding a concept called ‘Innovation Isle,’ or an island of innovation, where we’re partnering with the South Carolina Research Authority to showcase 10 companies in startup and early-stage development.
“It’s going to be really exciting to see these new products, this new research being commercialized,” she said. “It epitomizes the concept of transfer technology.”
In the next few weeks, ThinkTEC, working with the Council of Competitiveness, will kick off a business idea contest called “New Ideas for a New Carolina.”
Finalists will be invited to present their ideas at the conference. Winners will get scholarships to take FastTrac courses, and some nominal monetary awards will be given out.
“This summit is an effort of connecting all the dots for the stuff you need to have a whole regional effort for developing a knowledge-based business,” Bingham said.
In the end, there is no type of company that doesn’t use technology to some degree, she said.
“The aircraft industry is a great example,” she said. “Take Vought. They’re mostly a manufacturing company, but the composites they employ have an impact that comes from the knowledge-based sector. That’s a great example of cross-over.”
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