Speed wins. It is true in sports, yet equally true in economic development. There is an old adage that organizations need to move at the “speed of business.” Today, businesses, nations, and states need to move at the speed of innovation – which is moving at an exponential rate.
While society and economies are always evolving, the speed in which technology is advancing is outstripping policymakers’ ability to keep up, but also presents a growing pressure point for individuals. To put this in perspective, it took 50 years between the invention of the telephone and mass adoption. For the internet, it was 20 years. For the internet, it was 20 years. For the iPhone, less than five years. Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving even faster. While technology speeds up, our ability as humans to process change has not increased commensurately – evolution does not work that fast.
However, our economic prosperity and population growth are inextricably tied to our state, companies, and individuals keeping up with the accelerating pace of technological change. Certainly, our foreign competitors – especially China – are ahead of us, as are our other prosperous states.
Three initiatives spearheaded by the Detroit Regional Chamber can help make the cultural transition needed to move at the speed of innovation.
K-12 + 2 and 60% by 2030
The days of having only a high school degree and leading a prosperous life are over. All the data shows that regions with the most educated citizens are the most economically prosperous and growing in population. With K – 12 + 2, we are executing of Michiganders that every person needs a minimum of two years of additional education or training after high school. The workplace of today and tomorrow demands this – and that is why we are putting our robust education and talent portfolio and advocacy team behind also increasing postsecondary educational attainment to 60% by 2030.
Innovate Michigan
Michigan’s rich history of innovation is driven in part by top-tier higher education institutions. However, our Region struggles to compete with national and global peers in attracting high-tech entrepreneurs and funding. The collaborative Innovate Michigan effort between the Chamber and the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and Michigan State University, is designed to foster innovation, technological advancement, and economic growth from Ann Arbor to Detroit and transform the Detroit Region into a national leader in technology and economic development.
Next-Gen Mobility Leadership
Michigan is the auto state and the Chamber’s MichAuto program is committed to keeping it that way. We earned this historic reputation by understanding what the public needed before they knew what they needed. Henry Ford famously said while the automobile was being invented that if you asked people what they wanted, they would respond: “A faster horse.” We are in a similar inflection point today. Not everyone sees the potential of EVs (electric vehicles) or AVs (autonomous vehicles), but let’s not make the same mistake we did in the 1970s by ignoring global threats. MichAuto is committed to helping our state through this industry-wide transition and ensuring we have the high-tech talent to lead in AVs and EVs.
While EVs are not right for everyone, and EVs being a dominant consumer choice in the next decade is questionable, let’s not ignore this growing global trend. With EV sales roughly 8%, it is not hard to imagine 20% market share in the next decade or sooner. By the way, 20% is the current market share for pick-up trucks in America.
Michigan and Michiganders are the beneficiaries of a storied past. But we cannot rely upon the approach used in the first half of the 20th century to propel us into the midand late-21st century. It is time we understand what it means to move at the speed of innovation.