San Diego's Legacy of Innovation

BY MATT WILLIAMS | 5 min read

Beginning in the 1980's, the city of San Diego began a period of renewal as it moved away from its traditional industries (fisheries, canning and military contracts) and began to encourage the growth of technological companies. Since that time, the city has become a diversified and thriving environment characterized by innovation, research breakthroughs, communications and recreation.

In fact, the phrase "innovation economy" is used regularly when speaking of San Diego. This term, which was coined by Connect - a regional group that aims to promote and create technology-tied companies - refers to the economic atmosphere of the city, where businesses are focused on everything from biotech and environmental applications to defense and wireless communications.

According to their 2013 report, Connect indicated that San Diego added 412 new technology businesses in that year alone. This was 30 percent more new companies than it’s welcomed annually since 2011, which also saw the creation of more than 1,200 new technology-related jobs. In total, more than 6,646 innovation and tech companies exist in the city as of 2013, which account for roughly 143,400 jobs (and 11% of San Diego County's employment).

The Geisel Library Building is home to the Biomedical Library, one of the leading biotech research institutions in the US. Credit: ucsd.edu

In addition, according to the San Diego Biotechnology Network (SDBN), the city is also home to over 430 biotechnology companies. Much of this is due to the of the University of California, San Diego, a premiere academic institution that has helped fuel the region's impressive growth in biotech research, medical technology, diagnostic medicine, and pharmaceuticals in recent decades.

Amongst its many graduate schools are the UC San Diego Health System - the region’s only academic health system that provides education, patient care and conducts medical research - and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences - a graduate level pharmacy school.

UC San Diego is also affiliated with several regional research centers, such as the Salk Institute, the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, and the Scripps Research Institute. Together, these and other local organizations receive combined federal research funding in excess of $5 billion a year, and collectively generate discoveries that are the basis for development of innovative products and services.

The telecommunications Qualcomm was founded and remains headquartered in San Diego. Credit: kpbs.com

In 2004, UCSD, Extension and Technion Israeli Institute announced that they would begin collaborating on a set of initiatives to foster growth of the biotechnology clusters in the United States and Israel - for which they were awarded a grant of $150,000 from the U.S.-Israel Science & Technology Foundation (USISTF). In total, the faculty, researchers and alumni of UCSD have won twenty Nobel Prizes, eight National Medals of Science, eight MacArthur Fellowships, two Pulitzer Prizes, and two Fields Medals.

The city's commitment to diversification and technology is also clear from the fact that it has become the world's largest wireless business cluster. Qualcomm, a major telecommunications company, was founded in San Diego in 1985 and remains headquartered there. A joint study by the San Diego Workforce Partnership and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation indicates that the company has left a $4.5 billion economic footprint on the region and employs a third of all workers in the telecom industry.

Other wireless industry manufactures that are headquartered in the city include Nokia, LG Electronics, Kyocera International, Cricket Communications, and Novatel Wireless. Combined with pharmaceutical research and the development of medical technology, the city is therefore ideally suited to act as a center for the discovery, collaboration, acceleration, and convergence of wireless technology, life sciences, and the delivery of medical services.

CleanTECH specializes in advising companies how to connect to smart, renewable, and sustainable technology. Credit: cleantechsandiego.com

The greater San Diego region is also actively seeking to become a leading producer in the fields of renewable energy and alternative fuels, which include research into petrochemical products created from algae and other bio sources. Known as the Biofuels Initiative and jointly managed by CleanTECH San Diego, BIOCOM and the San Diego Regional EDC, this coalition brings together regional assets that are focused on commercializing sustainable energy.

Some 100 solar energy business now exist in the city, which is partly the result of strong partnerships between academic institutions and the private sector. Also, CleanTECH San Diego recently led a collaboration that resulted in the San Diego region securing an allocation of $154 MM of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) which can be used by municipalities to install an additional 20 megawatts of solar.

This commitment to the development of clean energy and technology was acknowledged in a 2010 report by The San Diego Foundation - a non-profit organization dedicated to philanthropic initiatives and community-based action. According to the report, the San Diego region attracted $445 million in clean technology venture capital between 2005 and 2010 and serves as a vital creator of "green jobs" in the region.

According to the EDD, San Diego's commitment to green energy has created over 37,700 jobs in the region. Credit: eastcountymagazine.org

The report also cites data from California’s Employment Development Department (EDD), which estimated that the number of green jobs in the San Diego region exceeded 37,700 - the third-largest concentration in the state. Furthermore, the data indicated that in 2010, the region accounted for almost 9% of the total green jobs in California, including close to 13% of the state’s renewable energy jobs and 11% of the energy efficiency and green building jobs.

Last year, the city also announced that it would be embracing the “industrial internet” by linking its streetlights to an “intelligent” wireless control system that would measure and manage energy usage. Designed by GE, the LightGrid (as it’s called) will replace 3000 city lamps with LED lights that are equipped with GPS beacons and wireless controls. This program is also in keeping with CleanTECH's commitment to smart grid technology.

In recognition for these and other achievements, in 2004, the Milken Institute ranked San Diego as the top biotech cluster in the United States. And in 2010, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Office of Economic Development designated San Diego as an iHub Innovation Center for its contributions to wireless technology, life sciences, pharmaceutical and biotech research, and start-ups for medical devices and diagnostics.

Despite this reputation for innovation and sustainability, San Diego is still looking for ways to improve. Hence why the city recently came together with U-T San Diego to host the Innovate San Diego Challenge. This two-phase incentive challenge seeks to produce a breakthrough on an issue that the citizens of San Diego care about most.

This issue can anything, so long as it pertains to one of four major issues: the creation of a 21st century workforce; adapting the city’s infrastructure and transportation to sustainable/renewable energy; enhancing San Diego’s reputation for innovation further; or enhancing San Diego's bi-national identity on the global stage.

The first part of the challenge - the Ideation Stage - will run from March 19th to June 11th, 2015, and is open only to residents of San Diego. In September of 2015, top submissions will be selected and the Proof-of-Concept Stage - which will be open to anyone - will begin. All those who are interested in competing are encouraged to register now!

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