Gazelle Economies and Me-Too Economic Development Strategies

Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance's (LARTA) Rohit Shukla spoke about Technology Clusters at the a recent IEDC Conference in San Jose. The main thrust of Rohit's argument was that innovation does not happen in a localized setting--atleast not anymore. That there are "global realities and gazelle economies" that we must all deal with is the easy part. How to deal with these, however, is not a no-brainer. Rohit lamented the fact that regions are following a herd mentality when it comes to clusters. That cluster strategies are "marketing driven, not market-driven". The economic development field is full of "me-too strategies" that do not take into account the economic realities of the regions. The hundreds of attempts to create a biotechnology or life-sciences hub is a clear illustration of that. Rohit noted that today clusters are global, not vertically integrated. A region must find its own unique strength and become a part of a global cluster. Agility, adaptability, and alliances are the keywords for successful economic development. Rohit is one of the most passionate speakers that I've come across in my life. Many of the arguments that he made clearly make sense. However, the policy implications of his talk were either quite obvious and hence somewhat non-trivial or weren't exactly clear beyond the need for US to continue to remain open to immigration. Besides it isn't very long ago that Rohit was a champion and passionate advocate of Southern California's "regional" economy and participated in a study to create a bio-tech or nano-tech hub in Southern California [see this, and this] which, by designation, he probably still is but doesn't speak in the same "local" terms anymore. And Southern California, unlike Silicon Valley, probably isn't that much a part of a global technology ecosystem. Hence the change in Rohit's talk is both interesting and intriguing. It would be useful to see some substance and flesh behind this new vision of clusters in the future.