After an intensive competitive process that pitted us against the city of Worcester, MA I am pleased to announce that we have landed a new member of the info-tech and digital media community here in Rhode Island! Inquest Technologies will be relocating during the fall from their current offices in Southborough, MA to 300 West Exchange St. in Providence. The move will include about 20 employees and Inquest has plans to hire approximately 30 employees over the next year or so.

Inquest Technologies product is called IQ9, a platform for delivering web-based enterprise business applications that covers a gamut of functions including business process management, project management, and collaboration (think a young Oracle or SAP). Their platform is already being used by leading worldwide organizations including ADT, Verizon, National Grid, ConEdison and the US Navy. In fact, they already have a small office in Newport to handle the myriad of business they have locally with the Navy. 

Some of you may have already met Jeremy Carr, their VP of Engineering, as he attended the Providence Geeks meeting with a couple of his senior engineers in May. He was initially impressed with what he saw and is looking forward to interacting with the geek community for both ideas and new staff.

This success provides further substantiation that Rhode Island (and Providence) has what it takes to attract new companies and talent to the state. Among other things, Mike Colapietro, their CEO, indicated that our “vibrant IT and digital media community” was one of the reasons for their move. Our momentum in the sector continues to build!

I’ve gotten to know them over the last few months and I am excited for both them and Rhode Island. Please join me in welcoming Inquest to the community.

In creating an Innovation Economy, it is sometimes useful to learn about what other regions are doing. In that context, the next Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) will feature a presentation by Richard Bendis, founder of Innovation Philadelphia.

Innovation Philadelphia, a non-profit economic development organization that serves 11 counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware, is working to establish the Greater Philadelphia Region as a national leader and world-class destination for Creative Economy industries, businesses and talent. http://www.innovationphiladelphia.com/

Richard Bendis has extensive experience in tech-based economic development and has spent his career supporting the development and commercialization of new technologies.  As a leader in developing private/public sector partnerships such as Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation and Innovation Philadelphia, he has worked with technology companies through each phase of the technology life cycle. For more on his bio http://www.innovationphiladelphia.com/about-us/board.aspx#richard_bendis

At the meeting, Rich will address the common attributes and shared practices of Innovation Philadelphia and other leading national programs that are creating new companies and jobs.The meeting will be held on Thursday, May 1st from 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon at the offices of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (315 Iron Horse Way) in Providence.

The agenda for this meeting will focus on STAC’s initiatives through the RI Research Alliance to increase Rhode Island’s statewide research platform. Other agenda items include:

·       Review of the Rhode Island Research Alliance 2008 initiatives
·       Demonstration of a new web portal tool
·       Update on RI EPSCoR activities
·       Progress report by the URI Commission on Research and Innovation

Of course we don't want you to leave for Philadelphia, but Richard’s presentation promises to be interesting and informative.