A few weeks back, several hundred leaders from the public, private, and academic sectors descended upon Seattle to renew their commitment to building the “Cascadia Megaregion.” The broad initiative includes a more coordinated approach to economic development between British Columbia, Washington State, and Oregon with the stated goal of “strengthening Cascadia’s position as an international hub for innovation, spur job creation, and enhance our already high quality of life.” With a new Steering Committee in place and more defined focus areas, the 4th annual Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference finally felt like an initial foundation had been built to support a world-class economic megaregion stretching from Vancouver to Portland.
Much attention has been paid to the campaign for an Ultra High-Speed Rail line which garners broad support but sits on a very long timeline. Bubbling underneath, however, has been a steady flow of new crossborder collaborations, investments, and events that are gradually (and somewhat quietly) pulling the region together in substantive ways. Below, I’ve listed notable items within this growing pipeline; a pipeline of cross-border business delegations, corporate expansions, and R&D collaborations that will ultimately shape the future of the Pacific Northwest.
This is by no means an exhaustive inventory, but I feel it’s useful to pull these various items into a coherent list. If you know of any other cross-border collaborative projects in the works, please add them in the comments section below.
Infrastructure
- The Nerd Bird take flight: Kenmore Air and Harbour Air launch a new daily direct floatplane service between downtown Seattle and downtown Vancouver.
- Related: we launch Geeks on Floats to help connect business communities across the region leveraging this unique transportation option.
- Information Superhighway: Cascadia Fibre Project plans to lay a new fiber-optic cable network along the corridor.
- Ultra High-Speed Rail: interest grows, funding flows, and feasibility studies continue for the massive infrastructure that would run from Portland to Vancouver.
R&D
- Cascadia Urban Analytics Cooperative: UW, UBC and Microsoft partner to apply data science for social good in the region.
- Cascadia Data Discovery Initiative: Fred Hutch, BC Cancer, Microsoft, UW, UBC and OHSU all come together to establish the Cascadia region as the global leader in biomedical data science and health technology innovation.
- Wildfire Management & Prevention: UW, OSU, and UBC working together to analyze and predict wildfires in the Pacific Northwest for better prevention and management.
- UBC joins UW and Microsoft as an academic partner in the Global Innovation Exchange.
Business & Innovation
- WeWork launches the Cascadia Passport to help spur regional cross-pollination among entrepreneurs.
- Related: check out our post on the benefits of this initiative.
- Cascadia Institutes of Technology: three polytechnical schools are working closely with industry to providing in-demand career opportunities for graduates in the region.
- Microsoft partners with BCIT to design Mixed Reality Curriculum.
- WTIA forms the Cascadia Blockchain Council and the Cascadia XR Council to focus on regional strengths in specific areas of disruptive technologies.
- Cleantech collaboration: BC’s Foresight Accelerator and the Cleantech Alliance of Washington sign collaborative MOU.
- Mitacs, UBC, and UW announce Incubator Internship Pilot to fund regional entrepreneurs.
- Over 50 organizations from across BC, WA, and OR create the Cascadia Venture Acceleration Network to foster regional innovation and improve access to funding.
Government Cooperation
- Governor Inslee and Premier Horgan formalize joint commitment to grow the region’s innovation economy, protect the environment and combat climate change, promote trade, and improve transportation connectivity.
- Mayors of Seattle and Vancouver pledge to work together on climate change, transportation, and housing.
- Expanding our Global Reach: the Vancouver Economic Commission and Greater Seattle Partners announce a cooperative agreement to promote the region on an international stage.
- Joint Clean Grid Initiative: the governments of Washington State and British Columbia look to align the two jurisdictions’ energy grids and support a regional transition to 100% renewables.
