Redesigning Florida

The best action Floridians can take now to revive our state's economy is to invest in talent production through higher education.

Talent is what the State University System produces every year - high-quality talent and world-class research. Both are keys to Florida's future success.

We can turn this economic recovery into a turning point - a redesign of Florida into a state of talent and innovation. We can engineer this transformation through long-term investment in Florida's talent engines - our public universities.

Recently, the Board of Governors of the State University System unveiled New Florida, an initiative to generate the talent our state needs to build on its existing economic foundation in aerospace, bioscience, technology and health-related industries.

Florida's economy might be in a slump, but our state has the tools it needs to move forward.

Florida needs more well-educated citizens, and that's the job of the State University System and its 11 institutions. With sustained investment, as laid out in New Florida, Florida's public universities can dramatically increase the number of college graduates each year. I believe we can graduate an additional 25,000 students - the huge influx of talent our economy needs.

Our universities also can expand significantly in research, which will be the source of innovation and opportunity in the new economy. Already our laboratories bring in well over $1 billion in outside support for research. With adequate investment through New Florida, these outside research dollars can grow to $2 billion a year and beyond. That alone is a powerful economic driver. Of course, it is the research itself that matters most - breakthroughs that can generate new companies with high-paying jobs.

This is what New Florida is about: more college-educated citizens, more research, more university-generated patents, more medical breakthroughs, more research spin-offs and millions more in outside research dollars coming into our state.

The New Florida initiative calls for doubling state support for the State University System over the next five to seven years. It can ignite an economic revitalization in Florida as it establishes a job-rich talent sector. That's why the state's leading business organizations included New Florida in their plan for the future.

Gov. Charlie Crist supports the initiative. His budget proposal calls for $100 million in new, recurring funding in 2010-11 to get this transformation started.

The governor understands that Florida needs to move past its traditional reliance on agriculture and tourism, the two trusted and reliable sectors of the Florida economy, and growth, which has proved to be unpredictable. We need to create something new: an innovation element, based on talent and on our existing strengths in science and technology.

Accountability measures include annual reporting on operations of the State University System, as well as work plans that better integrate each institution's work into a larger strategic effort, so that all 11 institutions are pulling in the right direction to speed the economic recovery.

All of these will be made public. New Florida will be fully transparent, accountable and credible.

Economic recovery and economic transformation is what New Florida strives to accomplish - nothing less than a redesign of Florida into a state of talent and innovation. Our state is at a turning point. Are we, the citizens of Florida, prepared to take the next step?