Measuring Competitiveness

Ed Morrison, blogger, and founder of I-Open, writes in the Spring 2007 GCX (Global Corporate Expansion), of the evolution of economic development indicators/rankings. Most importantly, he focuses on the third generation of rankings/indicators and why they are important to companies and thereby communities.

In his article, he says the third generation of rankings/indicators are divided into three foci: 1) brainpower, 2) innovation & entrepreneurship and 3) quality connected places. He defines each. Brainpower is the global competition for high quality intellects. For communities, this means attention to K-12 education as well as postsecondary educational attainment.

Innovation & entrepreneurship refers to regions where collaborative networks (and supportive resources) are strong and vibrant. And the third area: quality connected places encompasses quality of life metrics as well as infrastructure connectivity (broadband) and social networks.

Many of our local efforts (competitive broadband, UWT's Institute of Technology, Creative Tacoma), fit this model well.