A report from the Council on Competitiveness, a national organization focused on innovative economic development, says Rhode Island has difficulty competing in science and technology innovation.

PBN: And how does the state plan on improving?
KAPLAN: We have a lot of strengths. We’re in the Northeast in the knowledge corridor between New York and Boston. We have several strong institutions – Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design – and some pockets of real strength at the University of Rhode Island...The real strength of Rhode Island will be when we can connect the dots and create research alliances across the research-oriented universities...In the entrepreneurship space, how do we rally around entrepreneurs, how do we help them form a successful venture?... We’re starting to work on the climate for innovation. A lot of the work that we’ve done here at EDC [involves] our Innovation at Scale effort and the formation of the Business Innovation Factory, which is all about enabling collaborative innovation.

PBN: What role does the Business Innovation Factory play?
KAPLAN: Our Innovation at Scale strategy is all about how we turn the size of our state into a competitive advantage. How do we make Rhode Island a “proof of concept” state, the place where innovators can explore and test ways to deliver value in important areas like health care, public safety and security? If we can become known around the country as the unique test bed for these ideas, we can help not only institutions and companies here get stronger. … We also will attract new investments and companies from outside the state.