By: Terry Rapoch, President, DaytaOhio

"My interest in the future is because I am going to spend the rest of my life there"
-Charles Kettering

This is the first in a series of articles concerning technology, the knowledge economy and Ohio's future prosperity. The key ideas are based on a presentation that I gave in February 2005 but they seem even more relevant and significant in light of the events over the past three years, and in particular given the current economic downturn that America and Ohio are experiencing. What is particularly unique about this time in our history is the confluence of so many factors that are significant drivers of change and transformation. This article will provide an overview of these and subsequent articles will describe each in more detail.

The framing issue for this and the subsequent articles is that we are in a transformation from what I call an "annuity" to an "innovation" economy. In this transformation we must find new ways of thinking, communicating, and organizing our efforts rather than continuing to improve the ones that we currently have and have had for almost the past century. As Robert Reich points out in his new book Supercapitalism, over the 50% of the companies in the Fortune 500 were established in the 50 years from 1880 to 1930. This pattern is certainly true for Dayton and we only have to think of Charles Kettering, James Patterson, the Wright brothers and many others to see that. Their creative genius and entrepreneurial drive created a legacy that was the impetus for over a century of economic prosperity that is coming to or has come to an end for some. The innovation economy will be characterized by the need to create new intellectual and capital assets rather than simply building on or taking advantage of those created by others. Some examples include the need to develop post-petroleum solutions for energy generation and raw materials production and to address the challenges of global warming through "green" technologies.

In defining a development agenda for the innovation economy, I have identified six transformational challenges . Niels Bohr, the famous Danish physicist, cautioned that "Prediction is very difficult especially when it comes to the future", but I have tried to go beyond describing the challenges to include ideas and strategies on how we can start to successfully address them.

The first is the demographic challenge based on the "boom, bust and echo" structure of the current American population. The transition as the "boom" generation leaves the workforce and we enter the "bust" will drive the need for truly innovative solutions to enhance productivity, if we're to both service an aging population and maintain our current level of prosperity.

The second is the challenge of accelerated learning as we work to replenish the intellectual capital that is either leaving the economy through retirement or through the emigration of talent to other countries such as China and India. The "guild" system that used to train new workers coming into many companies is breaking down or disappearing completely, so our educational institutions must now deliver workers "ready to go" and also find ways to quickly retool skills as circumstances change.

The fourth area is dealing with the acceleration in the rate of change of technologies, processes and institutions that affect our lives. Whether this is living in the 7 x 24 world of global business or dealing with the pervasive or some might say intrusive nature of telecommunications, the bottom line is the need for ways to accommodate to the shifts.

The fifth transformation is the redefinition of employment as we have known it. For example, the dramatic growth of workers who are not employed by the company's for whom they are working gives rise to inherent uncertainties that could create the need for more protective legislation or government intervention.

The last is the redefinition of the industrial structure. In one dimension, this is characterized by the shift in job creation from the large "pillar" companies which characterized Ohio's second frontier to small and medium-sized businesses.

Albert Einstein said "You can never solve a problem on the level at which it was created." and in no case is this more true than dealing with the transformation we now face. We need to go beyond thinking to doing "outside the box". With this in mind, the next article will explore the demographic challenge related to a new development agenda. Your comments and input are welcome at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Terry Rapoch is the President and CEO of daytaOhio.

About daytaOhio
daytaOhio (www.daytaOhio.org), Ohio's Wright Center for Data, is one of eight Wright Centers of Innovation in the state of Ohio funded by the Third Frontier Project and the only one focusing on information technology. daytaOhio's vision is to use innovative visualization technology to improve human performance.