Introduction
This plan presents a vision of science and technology as transformative forces creating opportunity throughout Maine. It highlights five goals necessary to achieve this vision. The full potential of R&D to bring transformative growth to Maine cannot be fully realized unless all five advance simultaneously. They are interconnected and interdependent. For example, funding for research initiatives creates opportunities to train Maine’s future workforce and generates new processes and technologies that drive business activity. In turn, this activity creates opportunities for more workers and catalyzes more investments. A well-functioning framework for R&D coordination galvanizes the entire process and ensures that every investment yields its maximum return.
This document begins by presenting the vision and the five goals. Next, it shows how these goals will be achieved through specific activities in thirteen priority areas. Appendix IV shows how these priority areas support and build on the seven technology sectors that have guided Maine’s R&D investments since 1999. Many of the priority areas combine elements of multiple sectors in new and creative ways. In doing so, they are building on Maine’s historical comparative advantages to create new opportunities across many industries.
R&D’s Role in Sustainable Development
Lasting, equitable growth requires progress across many dimensions of a state’s economy, society, and environment.
Maine businesses, researchers, and educators operate within the broader context of the state’s economic and cultural landscape. Beyond their labs and classrooms, myriad factors influence whether their success translates into tangible benefits for Maine people. Can new hires at growing companies find housing? Can they find daycare for their children? Can products reach customers on time? Is the internet fast enough?
The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals are a useful framework for understanding the full spectrum of conditions needed to achieve lasting, equitable growth.* Many aspects of this plan directly support one of more of these goals, such as public health, economic growth, climate action, and natural resource stewardship. Still, MIEAB recognizes the need for progress on other critical issues beyond the scope of this plan. These include:
- Affordable, accessible housing
- Quality early childhood care and education
- Strong PreK-12 public schools
- Higher wages for teachers
- Reliable, high-speed internet access
- Racial, ethnic, and gender equity and inclusivity
Progress on these issues and others will be necessary if Maine is to realize the full potential of R&D to generate lasting prosperity that benefits all residents.
*United Nations, “Sustainable Development Goals,” accessed December 13, 2022: un.org/sustainabledevelopment.
A photo of flags at the United Nations