Partnerships are key to Houston’s future

If you’ve been a bit preoccupied with the tension and political squabbling happening in Austin, or Washington D.C., you might not have noticed that over the last few weeks, our political, business and nonprofit leadership have come together in some very significant ways. Houston, it appears, has found that the secret sauce to moving forward and promoting progress is simple: Ignore the naysayers and embrace partnerships.

Following the snub by Amazon, some questioned whether Houston could truly be a leading modern city. Sure, we are large and expanding, but our poor infrastructure, lack of a tech worker base and struggles with our public education system have held us back. In a direct response to those concerns, Houston is beginning to make a pivot that looks to change the fundamental course of our city.

For years city leaders have lamented the lack of a strong tech presence. With a dearth of knowledge workers and little technology infrastructure to support the ones we had, tech based innovation was lagging. Stepping in to fill that void is the creation of the new Innovation District. Anchored at the historic Sears building on Main Street, this new development and partnership led by Rice University, with investments by the city, sits on 9.4 acres. It will house entrepreneurs and researchers in data science and digital technologies focused on the energy, industrial, healthcare and logistics industries. The district is part of a larger partnership that brings together all area institutions of higher education, the first time that has happened in Houston. Linking the University of Houston system, Texas Southern University, the University of St. Thomas, Houston Baptist University, South Texas College of Law Houston, Houston Community College and Lone Star College, the new district will help develop the technology businesses of the future while supporting a new vibrant base of tech workers.

While technology is on the minds of most people as the way forward, Houston remains the home of the largest medical center in the world. While patient care remains critical to the future, advancing bioscience and developing commercial applications in this area has been missing. To bridge that gap, the Texas Medical Center is moving forward on a project that might be as significant to the longterm future of Houston as the ship channel was decades ago. TMC3 unites higher education, private businesses, and nonprofits to create a new biomedical research campus that is projected to inject nearly $5.2 billion into the economy and provide 30,000 new jobs. The center will expand the TMC from a medical care provider and education venue, to a comprehensive biotechnology center that brings together researchers, entrepreneurs and businesses in a new direction. This vision looks at six key areas of collaboration: innovation, health policy, clinical research, regenerative medicine, genomics and a city center for translational research.

As we look to develop the industries of tomorrow, we can’t forget the need to improve the every day lives of Houstonians and the role technology can play. This month, Microsoft Corp. signed a first of its kind partnership agreement with an American city partnering with the city of Houston. The tech giant will work with schools to provide computer literacy for students, host digital camps for young workers, provide software support to local startup companies, work with the City of Houston to develop smart city initiatives and teach computer literacy to parents, veterans and workers transitioning to one career to another. Houston’s ability to succeed rests on the education of her population.

In his state of the city speech, Mayor Sylvester Turner alluded to this new spirit of partnership as examples of Houston’s can-do spirit. It’s an approach not just confined to technology. It’s also helping promote civic life by assisting the redevelopment of Jones Plaza, improving Memorial Park and helping with street and road improvements across the city. In that same address, he also announced one more partnership that is potentially the most significant. His office will be looking at ways to help Houston schools with the creation of a new nonprofit that would bring together the city, philanthropic and educational communities modeled on what has been done in Los Angeles to help improve and operate our lowest-performing schools. It’s a bold approach that deserves exploration.

Houston’s ability to move forward, rests on uniting the talent and skills of all its institutions and people. Our collective success depends on coming together as a city. This move towards embracing partnerships is a step in that direction.

Aiyer is an assistant professor of political science and public administration in the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. He is the co-host of Houston Public Media's Podcast, Party Politics.

Houston’s ability to move forward, rests on uniting the talent and skills of all it’s institutions and people.