In a move designed to create more technology hubs, the Commerce Department is announcing the availability of federal funding to build such entities on a nationwide basis.
The effort, said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, is designed to “help us create ecosystems of innovation to strengthen economic opportunity in communities around the country that have been historically overlooked.”
By so doing, what the Commerce Department is officially calling the Regional Technology and Innovations Hubs program will provide grant funding opportunities for an array of entities, including state and local governments, institutions of higher learning, and economic development groups as they put together tech hub proposals.
The initiative is starting with a Notice of Funding Opportunity for interested parties to apply for planning grants and tech hub designations. A second Notice of Funding Opportunity is expected to be announced later in the year for those applicants who have been designated as official tech hubs.
That second Notice of Funding Opportunity will focus on how the hubs can apply for implementation funding.
Tech hubs are traditionally places where several or many technology-centered companies are doing business in the same general physical space, with start-ups working collaboratively.
According to a press release from the Commerce Department, the goal of the tech hubs is to recruit, train and retain a “skilled and diverse workforce critical to strengthening U.S. technological competitiveness.”
The Tech Hubs program was created via the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. By statute, it is authorized to spend up to $10 billion between now and 2029.
By Garry Boulard
