The Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. has launched a new initiative aimed at uniting the state's technology community and spurring collaboration and networking among its workers.

The effort, dubbed RINexus, is targeted at the state's IT and digital media sectors, which employ 15,000 people and reported an average annual salary of almost $70,000, one of the highest sector salaries in the state, according to Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. (RIEDC) executive director Saul Kaplan.

The initiative began last week with the launch of an interactive website featuring events, news, company profiles, job postings and blogs from community members.

But organizers, including RIEDC and industry networking group Providence Geeks, say they expect more from the project than just a fancy website.

"The idea is to grow the IT and digital media sectors through networking so we can perform like a true economic sector," said Jack Templin, co-founder of Providence Geeks.

The project has already been granted $80,000 in funding from RIEDC. As the project moves forward, the group expects to add events to its repertoire, as well as online social networking elements.

While networking groups are common in industry sectors across the country, organizers say RINexus, as presented through the quasi-public RIEDC, is unique because it is a statewide, industry-specific initiative...