Summer/Fall 2007

Upcoming TC3 Meetings:

Second Tuesday of every month at 5:30 PM

Public Safety Bldsg

1233 5th St., Clovis

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November 2006 Issue

August 2006 Isue

Spring 2007

“The journey of a thousand miles…begins with one step,” an ancient Chinese proverb says. Clovis stepped into the global arena with its technopolis vision when a delegation of five TC3  members traveled to Barcelona, Spain, to represent Clovis at the IASP (International Association of Science Parks) XXIV World Conference, July 1-4, 2007. It was an honor for TC3 to be selected to present a paper (“Creative Communities: Fuelling the Culture of Innovation”) in the general session assembly of more than 800 participants from over 70 countries and every continent except Antarctica.

The major points highlighted in the Clovis presentation included its citizen-driven, organic approach, public-private partnership, the sharing and collaboration of knowledge and ideas, as well as the preservation of the community core values. The presentation created quite a stir among participants, who were excited about the fresh approach presented by Clovis because it represents the democratization of innovation in a community. The other three papers submitted by TC3 were also selected for publication; the delegation was complimented by the IASP organizing committee on the exceptional quality of those papers.

Representatives from many countries including UK, Sweden, Finland, Brazil, Mexico, Greece, China, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and South Korea spoke to Clovis delegation members to discuss their own efforts. Many had arrived at the conclusion that a strategy similar to the Clovis plan would make sense, but they had not yet been able to apply such strategies or engage their citizens to expand the community knowledge. The Clovis effort was widely noticed and discussed and it earned substantial recognition for the city.

The consensus is that Clovis is indeed on a good path with the development of its technopolis. We learned that our dedication to preserving our values as we develop our technopolis is recognized as essential. We learned that art and culture must be integrated with technology. We learned that our emergence as a Technopolis is a journey, not merely a project—that science parks are all based on a dream, and accomplishment of that dream will take time. We will have to continue to “invest in intangibles,” as one speaker put it. We will need to collaborate because isolation is not an option; diversity leads to greater innovation. In the words of another speaker, we will need to “overcome our competitive instincts … and agree on a common agenda.”

The impact of Clovis’ presence in Barcelona is twofold. First, it is one of the primary objectives of the TC3 initiative that Clovis participates fully in the global economy. With our presence at the IASP conference, this position has been solidified. We now have global partners with whom we can develop relationships that enrich us, both economically and socially. And second, though no less important, we have gained an invaluable perspective about our place in the global economy, and how others approach the creation of a knowledge-based, revenue-producing economy that offers the highest quality of life to its citizens.