Innovation plays a critical role in Connecticut and its five Congressional districts, according to a new nationwide study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
ITIF, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank for science and technology policy, examined 20 indicators of the innovation-driven high-tech economy — both traditional economic data such as technology exports and newer metrics such as broadband deployment — for all 435 U.S. congressional districts, 50 states, and the District of Columbia.
Findings show vibrant high-tech economies across the country, not just in Boston or Silicon Valley, said Robert D. Atkinson, ITIF’s president.
“Indeed, all districts in Connecticut have some kind of tech-driven activity occurring locally,” he said. “This should serve as a signal to every member of Congress from Connecticut and the rest of the country that tech matters to their states and districts, so they should support broad-based, bipartisan policies to spur further innovation and growth at home and across the nation.”
Connecticut ranked among the top 10 states for the following indicators of the innovation-driven high-tech economy:
- 10Mbps broadband coverage (No. 1)
- 25Mbps broadband coverage (No. 2)
- IT share of all services exports (No. 9)
- Patent filers per 1,000 workers (No. 6)
- Patents filed per 1,000 workers (No. 7)
- Public R&D funding per worker (No. 7)
Congressional districts in Connecticut also ranked in the top 50 districts nationally as follows:
- District 4 ranked 37th for computer and math share of STEM workers;
- District 1 ranked 22nd for IT services exports;
- District 3 ranked 19th for public R&D funding.
In addition three districts ranked well for IT share of all services exports: District 1 ranked 12th; District 5 ranked 39 th and District 3 ranked 45th.
