Detroit: America's Laboratory for Innovation

What the heck is Xconomy doing opening a bureau in Detroit?

The same thing we've been doing all along: seeking out technology innovators in key cities and chronicling the work they're doing to turn their ideas into businesses that will drive the economy forward, both regionally and nationally.

There's no question that Detroit falls short on many of the ingredients that propel tech-company growth in Xconomy's other home cities of Boston, San Diego, and Seattle—things like an existing network of experienced serial entrepreneurs, a deep-rooted ecosystem of venture and angel investors, a menagerie of big high-tech anchor companies, and multiple top-level universities and research institutions churning out highly trained graduates and new technology concepts.

But in Detroit, the need for innovation is far more urgent than in any of those other places. So it's going to have to make do with, and build upon, the resources it does have. And there's nothing about the character of Detroiters or the automotive industry's current woes to convince me that the city can't bounce back.

Read the entire article here.

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