2009 Oregon Innovation Index

Why Innovation?

Innovation matters.

It matters to businesses because innovation gives them a competitive advantage—those that can recognize market opportunities and address them quickly and effectively are more likely to grow and succeed, especially in an ever-more global 21st Century economy.

It matters to governments because those cities and states that can attract and cultivate the innovative firms and top-notch talent able to innovate not just once, but over and over again, will be more successful in the new economy.

It matters to communities because innovation brings good jobs, better public infrastructure and the diverse social, commercial and cultural resources that make life better.

It matters to Oregon's future.

The Innovation Index

The Oregon Innovation Index was created to measure the state’s innovation economy and identify opportunities for enhancing competitiveness. It is a key yardstick used by the Oregon Business Development Department (“Business Oregon”) to track the state’s success in building an innovation-based economy.

Business Oregon and the Oregon Innovation Council (Oregon InC), a public-private partnership charged with creating an innovation-based economic strategy, identified key factors necessary for a healthy innovation economy, including: public-private partnerships for research and development; ready access to capital; statewide entrepreneurial networks, and targeted investments in emerging industries where Oregon has a global competitive advantage.

The first Innovation Index, published in 2004, evaluated nine indicators to track Oregon’s progress. It was updated and expanded in 2007 to include 20 indicators to ensure that each stage of the innovation process, the expected outcomes and the environment that leads to innovation were being measured. The 2009 Index continues the framework established two years ago and provides the most recent data for each of the indicators.

The composite score is composed of a weighted sum of the 1–year, 5–year and national ranking performance for each indicator. The methodology for the composite score weighs 5–year trends highest (50%), followed by national ranking (33%) and 1–year trend (17%). Greater detail on the methodology is available in the 2009 Innovation Index Appendix.