Welcome.

• Author: Hardin, John W.
• Position: RESEARCH NORTH CAROLINA

Dr. John Hardin

Executive Director

Office of Science, Technology & Innovation

June 8, 2017

I am pleased to introduce this issue of Research North Carolina, a forum for sharing information from North Carolina institutions and companies about their research programs and achievements.

Our state economy and the national economy have recently emerged from the deepest recession in more than a generation. Research-based innovation is the modern economy's fuel, and North Carolina's ability to keep moving forward in this post-recession era depends, fundamentally, on how much it infuses research and innovation throughout its economic system. Our future success will be determined by what we do now--the quality of our vision, how we invest, how we prioritize, and how we respond to the challenges of an evolving economy.

As shown in the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology & Innovation's most recent Tracking Innovation report, the strongest source of research and development (R&D) is North Carolina's universities. The state performs at 143 percent of the national average on academic R&D spending as a portion of gross domestic product (GDP), earning a 5th place ranking among the 50 states. And since 2000, North Carolina's academic R&D intensity has grown at a rate two-thirds faster than the U.S. rate, further increasing the state's ability to create new innovations.

The state's companies are also leading the way, with high-tech startups forming in North Carolina at rate equal to 300 percent of the national...