NEW DELHI: US president Joe Biden is set to announce 31 technology hubs that span 32 states and Puerto Rico to promote innovation and foster job growth in the industries that are concentrated in these regions.
He will make the announcement on Monday at the White House with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
“I have to say, in my entire career in public service, I have never seen as much interest in any initiative than this one,” Raimondo said to the reporters.
She reported that her department received 400 applications.
Talking about the buzz regarding the announcement, she said, “No matter where I go or who I meet with — CEOs, governors, senators, congresspeople, university presidents — everyone wants to tell me about their application and how excited they are.”
These tech hubs are the end result of an initiative Raimondo’s administration started in May to give communities incentives totaling $500 million.
The $500 million came from a $10 billion authorization in the CHIPS and Science Act from last year to encourage investments in cutting-edge technologies including biotech, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence. It’s an effort to spread digital investment outside of a small group of American cities, namely Austin, Texas, Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.
The program, formally known as the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program, supports the president’s economic thesis that opportunities should be distributed around the nation rather than concentrated in certain areas and that people should be able to find decent jobs where they live.
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“These Tech Hubs will catalyze investment in technologies critical to economic growth, national security, and job creation, and will help communities across the country become centers of innovation critical to American competitiveness,” the White House said in an emailed statement on Monday.
These 31 tech hubs reach Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Montana, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Virginia, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas, Maryland, Oklahoma, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Minnesota, Louisiana, Idaho, Wyoming, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New York, Nevada, Missouri, Oregon, Vermont, Ohio, Maine, Washington and Puerto Rico.