On January 27, Governor Deval Patrick challenged the region’s IT/digital sector to create a collaborative approach to improve its global competitiveness.  On June 10 an extended dialogue begins with thought leaders and sector stakeholders to embrace the challenge of expanding the region’s innovative capacity and sector preeminence.

• How did this group emerge? What was the call to action? Who are the initial key players? What are the goals?
• What are the issues being discussed? What priorities do they see for this new initiative? How has the group defined its work and its role?
• What is the June 10 event at Microsoft about? Who will be there? How will the half-day gathering be structured? Who will be speaking?
• What progress has been made to date? Are there activities now underway? How can I participate?
• What comes next? How does the Organizing Committee envision moving forward? How will dialogue transition into broader engagement?

How did this group emerge? What was the call to action? Who are the initial key players? What are the goals?

On Jan. 27, 2009, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick called for the establishment of an industry-led framework for collaboration in the Massachusetts IT sector.

Secretary Greg Bialecki of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development asked MTC’s John Adams Innovation Institute to facilitate the organizing process for this new initiative, which was tentatively called the Massachusetts IT Collaborative.

The Innovation Institute convened eighteen leaders – who represent a cross-section of vibrant segments of the IT sector from academia, industry, and government –to form an initial Organizing Committee. They include:

• Mohamad Ali 
IBM
• Colin Angle
 iRobot
• Paul Bosco
 Cisco
• Brett Close
 38 Studios
• Paul Cormier 
Red Hat
• Donna Cupelo 
Verizon
• Chris Goode 
EMC
• Michael Greeley 
Flybridge
• Emily Green
 Yankee Group
• Jim Kurose
 UMass Amherst
• Robert McDonald 
IBM
• Andy Ory
 Acme Packet
• J.D. Sherman 
Akamai
• Brian Shin
 Visible Measures
• Sara Spalding
 Microsoft
• Steve Vinter
 Google, Inc.
• Cheng Wu
 Azuki Systems
• Victor Zue
 MIT

Since February, the group has been meeting regularly every few weeks to discuss how best to develop a cross-sector collaborative suited to the digital economy with a focus on increasing the competitiveness of the digital sector in Massachusetts

To date the conversation has revolved around creating an industry-led, collaborative, adaptive and self-sustaining framework to launch initiatives and projects that will enhance our propects for economic growth and opportunity.

A second emergent theme is to better understand and appreciate that what we traditionally think of as the IT sector is undergoing a transformation. We need to collectivley understand this renewal and reinvention, and extend that understanding to leaders through the public and private sector who shape policy and the allocaton of resources.

It is important to note the start up of the IT Collaborative is a follow-on activity to the launch of a November 2008 study of the IT sector organized by an ad hoc group of industry and association leaders. That study is underway by researchers at the UMass Donahue Institute.

What are the issues being discussed? What priorities do they see for this new initiative? How has the group defined its work and its role?

The group began its conversation by quickly reaching consensus on some important features about this new initiative:

• No one owns the dialogue;
• The process needs to be open and inclusive;
• The group will work collaboratively, and
• There is a need for structure in leadership around the conversation.

To succeed, the Organizing Committee agreed, it will take something more than good ideas. The group quickly organized into four working groups, and identified seven priority areas which they believe merit immediate strategic attention. These include:

• Communications;
• Industry research and analysis;
• Education and talent;
• Entrepreneurship;
• Commercialization and capital;
• Business environment and infrastructure;
• Research partnerships; and
• Strategic initiatives.

Some of the questions which emerged in the dialogue include:

• What is the new identity of the state’s vast digital industry sector?
• What are the stories and key messages that best depict the dynamism of the sector?
• What advice can we give to policymakers to support new venture formation, university-industry partnerships, and a vibrant talent pool for the IT sector?
• How does Massachusetts rank globally in IT? Is Massachusetts as globally competitive as it could be in the digital sector?
• Should Massachusetts compete with Silicon Valley? Is Silicon Valley a good benchmark?
• Should the collaborative be more focused on enhanced prosperity, economic viability, job growth, new business formation, or talent retention?
• How will we move this Organizing Committee dialogue into the broader community?
• What are the points of leverage to improve the state’s knowledge economy?
• Are the assets, achievements and identity of the region’s digital economy sufficiently understood, both in the region and beyond?

What is the June 10 event at Microsoft about? Who will be there? How will the half-day gathering be structured? Who will be speaking?

On Wednesday, June 10, 2009, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Microsoft New England Research & Development Center in Boston, the Organizing Committee is hosting a half-day gathering on how best to improve the competitiveness of the digital sector in Massachusetts. The focus is on expanding the recent discussions of the Organizing Committee to develop a larger circle of thought leaders.

The keynote speaker will be iRobot founder Rodney Brooks, who is currently leading Heartland Robotics, with the goal of using robots to improve worker productivity. “Just as the information techology sector has transformed our lives over the last 25 years, so, too, will the digital sector continue transforming our lives in the decades to come. Massachusetts can be the epicenter and catalyst if we can learn how to scale up our ventures locally rather than export the value of our creativity to the other coast.”

The day will open with a keynote from Rodney Brooks. This will be followed by a presentation from the UMass Donahue Institute regarding research about the IT sector. Following that there will be two rounds of breakout sessions which will focus on:

• Communications
• Analysis & Definition of the IT
• Talent & Workforce
• Entrepreneurship, Commericialization and Capital.

The entire gathering will then reconvene to:

• discuss the outcomes and dialogue at the individual sessions
• hear reactions from Secretary Bialecki
• and close with a networking lunch

Undergirding the June 10 event is the fact that our economy is in transition and that maintaining a robust dialogue is essential to finding our way forward. It is also important to state what the gathering is not:

• It is not a launch;
• It is not a branding exercise; and
• It is not about forming a new association or organization.

The June 10 gathering seeks to invigorate a dialouge which supports the continuing renewal of our legacy of innovation in the Commonwealth. The Organizing Committee will use the products of the conversation and break-out groups to develop and suggest how we can collaborate more effecitively, how we can better communicate the strength and vitality of the sector, how we can identify new pathways venture formation and retention, job growth and economic prosperity.

What progress has been made to date? Are there activities now underway? How can I participate?

Four of the Working Groups will use the June 10th event to sharpen their discussions. All of the activities are seen as a work in progress with no preconceived ideas about what happens after June 10th. Each working group is serving as a vehicle and a venue to bring in the voice and creativity of other thought leaders from industry, academia, and government in Massachusetts.

For instance, the Industry Research and Analysis Working Group has formed a partnership with the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute to inform the Organizing Committee’s understanding of the industry.

The dialogue of the Entrepreneurship, Commercialization and Capital Working Group has focused on the “entrepreneur’s path,” identifying the key leverage points to improve the environment for entrepreneurship and new business formation in Massachusetts.

The Talent and Workforce Development Working Group seeks to expand collaboration across Massachusetts’ educational institutions and industry to improve talent development, attraction and retention of professionals in the IT sector of the Commonwealth. The group is specifically asking, “where are the strategic, highly leveraged opportunities for the digital sector to strengthen the skills and diversity of the future IT workforce?”

The Communications Working Group is facilitating an inclusive, structured dialogue on the identity of the IT sector in Massachusetts, exploring the sector’s story, current perceptions and key messages. The group continues to identify its goals and its target audiences. It has also secured the help of EchoDitto, a leading new media consulting group, to help develop and shape a new, interactive presence.

EchoDitto has been appointed to help engage the MA tech and innovation community in an open online dialogue. They will be collecting thoughts from the community through online outreach, and are developing an open and collaborative framework to help engage participants in conversation and action to shape the future of the Massachusetts Technology and Innovation sector. EchoDitto intends to actively and effectively engage the Massachusetts tech and innovation community in a discussion about the future of the region by:

• Providing an intuitive way for participants to engage in the process
• Giving a voice to everyone that wants to add value to the discussion
• Curating a process that leads a coherent discussion while allowing grassroots participation to shape issues and agendas
• Using social media channels to reach out to the communities

They will use this process as an opportunity to frame a conversation between all levels of the technology and innovation sector in MA – from grassroots meetups to leading companies and educators - to bring together a community that will communicate the vast footprint of this exciting and important industry.

What comes next? How does the Organizing Committee envision moving forward? How will dialogue transition into broader engagement?

The June 10 event is the starting point for broader engagement and dialogue. The immediate challenge will be to capture and share the dialogue that occurs at the June 10 gathering, utilizing interactive tools to engage with the broader IT and digital community in the region.

The ongoing efforts of the four working groups will continue, reshaped in part by the June 10 gathering. Following the June 10th event the Organizing Committee as a whole will digest, regroup and share a vision for a future in which a larger community of passionate advocates can act collectively on behalf of our common interests.

It promises to be an invigorating, iterative process.