Welcome

Sandy K. Baruah, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development

Living in the Information Age, we are constantly inundated with, well, information. Almost every imaginable fact and figure is literally at our fingertips. Success hinges on the ability to find, sift through and analyze data.

In everyday parlance, the words "data" and "information" are used interchangeably. In computer science theory, there is a clear distinction between data and information: Data are measurements that can be disorganized, and when data become organized they become information. "Information" is the result of processing, manipulating and organizing data in a way that adds to the knowledge of the receiver. In other words, it is the context in which data are taken.

And that’s truly what this edition is about: taking data and turning it into powerful knowledge that helps you create and refine your economic development strategy. If you hear the terms “information age” and “knowledge economy” on a daily basis, as I do, that’s no surprise: Our economy truly has entered a new age, in which information is the key to competitiveness.

This edition showcases some of the many ways that data – transformed into information – play a key role in planning and executing your economic development program. Articles that address strategic planning issues include understanding your community’s competitive position; identifying and selecting clusters where efforts should be focused; and collecting data in order to attract retail development or grow the cultural sector of your economy. Once your strategy is in place, organized, strategic information can help your community sustain high-growth companies, as shown in the article on economic gardening. In addition, tools such as fiscal impact analysis help communities fully understand the effects of their actions, and GIS and other Web-based strategies can help economic development organizations be more effective. Finally, it’s of vital importance to look at the “big picture” results of your efforts and evaluate the success of your strategy.

Information is vital to every aspect of the practice of economic development. However, in this increasingly fast-paced world, information overload is a potential setback. That’s why collecting the right kind of data, and knowing how to use it, is vital to the success of any economic development strategy.

I would like to thank all the authors for contributing their knowledge to this edition of Economic Development America. I trust that you will find this information as valuable as I have in your quest to compete successfully in the 21st century, knowledge- based economy.

Sandy K. Baruah
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development