Chicago,IL-(Effingham Radio)-Gov. JB Pritzker joined Department of Innovation and Technology Secretary and CIO Ron Guerrier at the department’s Reimagining IT roundtable yesterday morning and declared April 22 as Innovation and Technology Day in the state of Illinois.
The following are the governor’s remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Thank you, Ron, for your introduction and for choosing public service after decades in the private sector. I’m thrilled to have you as a partner and leader as we work to bring prepare our state’s information technology infrastructure for the future.
I also want to thank Haven Allen and mHUB for hosting us today. It’s so great to be here again after celebrating your two-year anniversary last month. mHub has accomplished so much in that short time: fostering physical product development and manufacturing, helping grow over 200 companies so far, and creating nearly $100 million in new economic activity – all right here in Illinois.
That’s why I’m so proud to be here today to declare April 22nd as Innovation and Technology Day in the state of Illinois.
It’s innovators like all of you who will help us reimagine the future, build new businesses, and better serve our state’s residents.
We need engineers and entrepreneurs in the private sector and public sector, at our world-class universities and at our incubators, to partner with one another to really bring the transformation we need.
I truly believe that we have so much potential if we just work together.
Collaboration to bring about positive change — it’s what I tried to do in business and at 1871, and what I am working to accomplish now as your governor.
I’m not even 100 days in, but my administration has been hard at work on a bold agenda to make our state among the most forward-thinking and innovative in the nation.
We’re planning to build the broadband infrastructure a 21st century economy demands.
We’re investing in proven Science, Technology, Engineering and Math programs in our schools that will equip our next generation for the jobs of today and tomorrow. On day one, those students will have the skills they need to succeed in our booming business and technology sectors or at our world-class universities.
And we’re supporting our state colleges and universities, which are launchpads for new companies and a highly talented workforce. Over the past five years, nearly 1,000 startups have been founded on campuses across Illinois. These companies have raised over $1 billion in funding, and today startups are more likely than ever before to stay in Illinois.
Our innovation hubs are a big reason for our new-found startup success. Hubs like mHUB, Innovate Springfield, EnterpriseWorks, MATTER, TechNexus, Blue 1647, Peoria Innovation Alliance, 1871, Quad City Manufacturing Lab, and many more are leading this charge.
These pillars of innovation — higher education institutions, top talent, and innovation hubs — are valuable assets to our state and building blocks to a more prosperous future.
We are building on this foundation to create good-paying jobs across our state and to reimagine how our state serves our residents.
Thank you all for gathering here today with the critically important goal of advancing innovation and technology in Illinois. We surely need it, and it is among my top priorities. With your help, the best is yet to come.”
