I attended the Clean Tech Luncheon hosted by the BCTIA today. Interestingly, yesterday I picked up a copy of Harvard Business Review and read the article "Tapping into the World's Innovation Hot Spots"

http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2009/03/tapping-the-worlds-innovation-hot-spots/ar/1

So, with the good 'ole HBR article in mind, I became concerned with what I didn't hear from the speakers or discussion panel at the luncheon - after all, the event was supposed to be a discussion about what we need to do in BC to develop our clean tech cluster, to "seize the clean tech revolution."

As a region, I think we may be going down the wrong path intent on building a “clean tech” sector per se – primarily because the definition of “clean tech” tends to be very broad - a catch-all of sorts. With other regions around the world building deep sub-clusters of niche competencies I don’t think we can succeed in making our region competitive, or an attractive clean tech destination unless we’re more focused. 

We should consider defining some sub-clusters under the “clean tech” umbrella, and pool our resources (financial and otherwise) into these sub-clusters to quickly establish a strong footprint and niche position from which to build second-to-none research capacity and innovation leadership. This will make us a more attractive partner for other regions in the world because as a result of the intensity of our sub-cluster focus, we will attract the brightest minds and lead the world in research, development, and commercialization in these sub-clusters. Similarily, the financial resources we invest in these areas, in a focused manner, should drive more cyclical innovation in complimenary clean tech disciplines thereby further growing an innovation leadership position in our selected areas of focus. In other words, we should focus on building a few narrow and deep sub-clusters rather than what may inevitably be a shallow and wide macro clean tech cluster.

The world of innovation is changing as the HBR article points out.  The clean tech ecosystem of innovation is very likely to grow in a distributed manner with niche, focused pockets around the world.

I don't think we can afford NOT to focus. We don't have the research capacity, talent, or financial resources to play an all-things-to-all-people clean tech game.  B.C. indeed can be a leader, but our ability to focus on building deep competencies and capacity in sub-clusters will dictate our path to success in this regard.

The Clean Tech Open http://www.cleantechopen.com/ identifies the following categories.  Something to consider.

Renewable Energy; Energy Efficiency; Smart Power; Air, Water & Waste; Transportation and Green Building.