VISION 2020

To build a 21st century economy, Wisconsin must make the most of its people, resources and opportunities, and meet the challenges posed by the rise of the Knowledge Economy. To address these challenges, the “Tech Council” has developed a detailed set of recommendations that make up Vision 2020: A Model Wisconsin Economy. Download the PDF

Vision_2020_2The foundation of Vision 2020 is built around three core ideas. First, building Wisconsin’s Technology Clusters. Second, establishing Research Centers of Excellence. Third, creating an Institute for Interdisciplinary Research.

 1) Technology Clusters Download the PDF
In October 2001, the U.S. Council on Competitiveness published a report citing the benefits of regional clusters of innovation, benefits that it believed could form the foundation for future U.S. competitiveness in global markets. The concept of Technology Clusters is based on the growing evidence that nurturing the state’s key industries can improve the competitiveness of businesses within those industries, in turn boosting the state’s overall economy.


2) Research Centers of Excellence
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Research Centers of Excellence located around the state will be the functioning arms and hands of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (the IIR). The Research Centers will be organized around large-scale opportunities to build high-technology Wisconsin businesses. The Research Centers will focus on applied research that transfers new, public sector science and technology to the private sector to solve unique problems of a particular industry. The Research Centers will identify disruptive technology that can be expected to force changes in the competitive landscape for Wisconsin’s leading industries, thereby helping to prepare market leaders for the coming challenges and to create opportunities for new entrants.


3) Institute for Interdisciplinary Research
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The interconnectedness of the world has had a dramatic effect on business. In the modern, global economy business is increasingly disrupted by the flow of technology streams that change the competitive landscape of entire industries almost overnight. New knowledge that is discovered in mathematics and physics is increasingly being applied to information and communication technology, materials science and medicine, and discoveries in those fields are in turn influencing the way goods and services are being delivered in the economy. This flow has always been there, but it is now moving much faster.

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