Last week the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council hosted its annual spring conference. This year’s conference, of which Novell was a proud sponsor, focused on “China, India, and Russia - Our Partners in the New Global Economy. There was an impressive list of speakers led off by Dr. Lawrence Summers. In addition to being an economist by trade, Mr. Summers also has held distinguished positions including former US Secretary of the Treasury, Chief Economist of the World Bank and President of Harvard University. I found myself feeling like an underachiever as I read his bio and introduced him to the conference attendees.

Dr. Summers talked without notes or charts (a great lesson for all presenters) on “America and the New Global Economy.” While the essence of Dr. Summers’ observations were on how America could continue to compete in the face of accelerating competition from China, India, and Russia, it was his remarks on innovation and the source of innovation that struck me, and I hope you, as the most profound.

In adapting to the changing global landscape and accelerated economic growth abroad, Dr. Summers primary observation was that our strength and long term competitiveness must come from innovation and our ability to generate and sustain this innovation. I know innovation is not a new or novel concept regarding competition but it was Summers’ comments on the source for innovation that really hit home.

So the big question was “What’s the optimal source for creating and sustaining innovation (capabilities and knowledge) and therefore competitive advantage? Innovation that is difficult to replicate and therefore difficult to dislodge.” The traditional answer has been through individuals and proprietary models. The new paradigm is prosperity built on the communities capacity, a capacity which is open and fluid. Indeed it’s not hard to imagine innovation created and delivered through innovation communities is more difficult if not impossible to exploit by any one individual.

Now I’ll admit that “innovation communities” is not a new concept to those of us in open source. But it was refreshing and encouraging to hear a distinguished economist, public servant and academic leader espouse the model’s promise across a broader platform. Dr. Summers’ concluded with his keys for creating successful communities of innovation.

1. Education - It’s not surprising that Dr. Summers long time commitment to education has him leading off with the need for educational institutions to take an active role in the sponsorship, encouragement and knowledge transfer for the creation of innovation communities.

2. Science & Technology - A passionate plea for a cultural and philosophical shift in America for active support, encouragement, and respect for the noble and worthwhile pursuit of science and technology professions.

3. Engaged & Active Universities - Similar to #1 and #2 above but a specific plea for high profile Universities like Harvard and others to enable the incubation of innovation communities.

4. Open - Most encouraging perhaps was Dr. Summers’ observation that the best communities are open - that “open systems” beat “closed systems”.

So all in all an encouraging and enlightening day….with a final observation that innovation communities not only benefit the community but those proximate to the community as well. Also another good reminder that the best economic system is still founded on competition and the belief that markets are efficient.