Richardson Opens Innovation Quarter Headquarters » Innovation in Dallas

“Catalyst” was the watchword at the grand opening of Richardson’s Innovation Quarter headquarters on Wednesday. Years of planning and work. HQ is now kAn eystone to a district aimed at leveraging the city’s telecommunications past to become a new technology hub.

The new 27,500-square-foot space leased in partnership with UT Dallas supports the 1,200-acre Innovation Quarter. The area aims to bring together players ranging from technology start-ups to established international companies, university researchers and public stakeholders to make the city a global city. ecosystem player.

“This is more than the city of Richardson’s effort. This is more than the Dallas effort. This is bigger than the North Texas area,” Richardson Mayor Paul Volker said at the event. “What I love about the City of Richardson is that we have a global presence. The vision we have here is to be a global influencer in technology and innovation. is.”

Designated the International Business Capital of Texas by the Texas Legislature in 2011, Richardson is already home to 65 major international companies and hundreds of other global companies. From a catalytic perspective, IQ is not only about increasing a city’s global market share and the number of entrepreneurial businesses, but also fostering more industrial clusters, he says.

“Global Market”

Nestled between Campbell Road in the north and Apollo Road in the south, along a stretch of land known as the Telecom Corridor, the Innovation Quarter is home to id Software and Zybex.

“The collaboration that we are able to achieve is a truly global marketplace,” says Voelker. “And in my experience, the international community tends to be the most entrepreneurial type of individuals you’ve ever come across.”

After rezoning much of the area for use to make the building more attractive and flexible for start-ups, the city will use the ribbon-cutting of the event to create an IQ that businesses can use as a testbed for new technologies. marked the opening ceremony of and ideas. For example, the city wants to leverage its existing telecommunications infrastructure to support the use of automated people movers along Grenville Drive, which constitutes the “backbone” of IQ.

IQ’s Key Goal: Attracting Hundreds of Small Businesses and Startups

Voelker said IQ can provide a place to build a business or commercialize research from UT Dallas and other North Texas institutions. Rather than focusing on incentivizing one or two big companies to set up stores in the city, IQ is a venture into hundreds of small and medium-sized companies that could eventually become unicorns or go public. It aims to attract companies and start-ups.

“When we recruited different major industries to be part of the Richardson area, the common denominator was innovation around communications and computing,” says Voelker. “When looking at the heat map of available resources for these companies, the resources that will be available for UT Dallas are the logical place for them to land.”

The City of Richardson will house the Office of Economic Development and the Office of Strategic Initiatives within IQ HQ, with space for events and programming.

“Some people remember that in the early days after the telecom bankruptcy, many of us got together and said, ‘What are you going to do now?’” says Voelker. “We took a punch in the stomach. This building today we are back.”

UT Dallas Takes Leading Role in Driving Innovation

UT Dallas has played a leading role in bringing talent and enterprise to Richardson since UTD was originally established as a research arm of Texas Instruments.

UT Dallas Principal Richard Benson said at the event:

In addition to attracting top talent and emerging start-ups to the region, the university will occupy the majority of space at IQ HQ. In addition to coworking, office and lab space, the university is launching his five new research centers. Due to high demand from researchers in this space, it will be rotated. It belongs to the Center for Emergent New Technologies in the Innovation Quarter.

The newly opened space will also house an expansion of UT Dallas’ Venture Development Center.

“How do you know if you are successful in your work here at Richardson IQ?” asked UTD President Benson at the event. “Industry engages with UTD’s top researchers, entrepreneurs launch startups with our support, and the public experiences academic and skill-building education from one of the nation’s top research universities. increase.”

Benson said the university will have six applied research centers at IQ. Each was selected for its emerging new technology through a competitive process led by Dr. Joe Pancrazio of the University’s Office of Research and Innovation.

Applied Research Centers currently include:
Applied AI & Machine Learning Center
Applied AI Center with UT Dallas Expertise
Imaging and Surgical Innovation Center
smart mobility center
Multiscale Integrated Interactive Intelligent Sensing Center
IQ design

“For our region, what this means is that high-growth SMEs can look to IQ as a resource, whether in aerospace, defense, biotech, financial services or next-generation communications. ,” Benson said. “The kind of collaboration that grows here is the lifeblood of innovation.”

active partnership

Benson believes that together we can solve some of our biggest challenges, and enka welcomes UTD’s “best and brightest” students with Richardson IQs. I am proud of that.

He also welcomes members of the community across North Texas to attend IQ’s open events or to serve as mentors and volunteers.

Calvin Jamison, the University’s Vice Chancellor for Facilities and Economic Development, is actively promoting the partnership.

“With this visionary initiative, we will collectively attract new businesses to the region and work together to enable UT Dallas and the resulting community to learn and implement the knowledge gained, while at the same time It can contribute to economic growth in the city and beyond,” he said at the event.

“Some communities are on first base, but in a special place, the City of Richardson, a special space that provides dominant visionary leadership in this race of research, innovation and technology, we have an extraordinary You see the pace,” added Jamison.

Quincy Preston contributed to this report.

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