Life Science as the opportunity we
ought to explain.
The key with Life Science is that
we’re strong in clinical, meaning serv-
ing patients in beds. We have several
medical schools making us strong in
medical education. We lead in clinical
trials; Oncology for example. Where
we have been weak is in the com-
mercialization of that activity, which
means, the ability to take a new di-
agnostic approach, new therapy, or a
new medical device, to market.
What happens is we invent here in
Houston. Then companies, often
from the East coast and the West coast,
such as Boston, San Francisco or San
Diego, come to Houston. They li-
cense that invention or that technol-
ogy. Then they build the businesses in
another location. The change we’re
seeking is to make Houston more of
a commercialization center for the
intellectual property, if you will.
The Texas Medical Center is prob-
ably the Houston asset best known
around the world. When we fly
somewhere, the first conversation
today is likely concerning the Texas
Medical Center; and they refer to
it as an individual institution. MD
Anderson has a very good reputa-
tion, and Texas Children’s Hospital is
widely recognized. Increasingly, they
are talking about the medical center
and its entirety of 50-plus institu-
tions. It is remarkable how the repu-
tation has expanded.
I think you mentioned Innovation
and Technology; so, we have Energy
in the broadest sense of the word, in-
cluding alternative energies. Undeni-
ably, that is our number one industry.
Life Science is our strong number
two. The area where we need to grow
even more, and where we’re probably
the most behind is an aspect of in-
novation. It is in Startups. Let me re-
iterate, “Houston is a very innovative
city.” We are known for innovation,
especially for innovation in what I
will call the institutional settings and
corporate settings. The energy in-
dustry is extraordinarily innovative.
Think about the shale drilling that
came out of Houston-based technol-
ogy, the Medical Center and all the
work we have done from Oncology
48 iF Magazine | April 2018
to Cardiovascular and NASA, also an
institutional innovation. We are not
high on disruptive startups; startups
that can move ahead and change the
world. They can add a huge market
value in a relatively short period of
time. However, we have not been
taking an active role in such ventures.
Now, we are working very hard in to
change. The question is how do we
build a more robust startup ecosys-
tem?
Q: With Artificial Intelligence and
Robotics?
A:
Appropriately, you are jumping
to the piece that is most important,
which is the digital piece. We are be-
coming more and more aware that a
lot of the startup activity today is in
digital technology. Even what is hap-
pening in the medical center has a
lot of digital elements. While Hous-
ton has always been strong in Stem
Cell Protocol, classic Stem Cell Pro-
tocol. We are number one in the na-
tion in Stem Cell Protocol, in terms
of Stem Cell workers, we are not as
strong in digital technology. We need
more software engineers, mathemati-
cians, statisticians, and experts in data
analytics.
You realize that today people are
talking about Manufacturing 4.0. All
basic industries are evolving to be-
come more digital dependent. That
is the evolution. Houston not only
needs to catch up; we need to lead.
We won’t be strong in manufactur-
ing if we’re not strong in digital.
Q: You recently spearheaded a trade
mission to China with Mayor Turner
last December 2017. What was your
experience and take away?
A: Well the best way for me to de-
scribe this trip is relative to the prior
trip in 2013. This was a larger trade
delegation. This was arguably the
largest trade delegation we have ever
conducted. It is at least the largest we
can identify in our records. There is a
lot of interest in Houston with Chi-
na, not surprisingly. In 2013, we had
just added the Air China direct flight.
Going to Beijing and Shanghai in
2013 felt like we were introducing
Houston to a lot of people. That was
the sense we had, even though obvi-
ously, there have been strong connec-
tions between Houston and China
for years. Trade between Houston
and China has grown, I believe, by
5.7% per year compounded for ten
years. That makes a difference over
time.
Arriving this time, we didn’t have to
introduce ourselves. People we were
meeting with, whether they were
government officials or private sector
officials, they already knew Houston.
We went right into discussing busi-
ness opportunities and opportunities
to work better.
We traveled to Shenzhen, Shanghai,
and Beijing. What was a common
thread in the meetings was the em-
phasis on Life Science. As I men-
tioned before, Houston and the Texas
Medical Center resonated with the
Chinese.
The challenge for China is to bring
a high-quality healthcare system to
their people. It is a real challenge. So,
the opportunity to become partners
with the Texas Medical Center was
part of almost every conversation and
of utmost interest. They knew us, and
they were interested in talking Life
Science in all three cities.
The second important topic I no-
ticed was the digital element. Every
conversation in China had a strong
digital component. They recognize
how rapidly the world is digitizing,
so they talked about one of their con-
tainer terminals that was completely
digitized with no workers --every-
thing was automated. So, I came back
to Houston realizing that for Hous-
ton to compete in this world, we are
going to have to be more digital, and
we must progress at a more rapid
pace.
Q: Anything else you would like to
add about the trade mission?
A: I’ll mention one. We had a meet-
ing with the National Development
and Reform Commission (NDRC),
the top planning body of China.
When meeting with the NDRC,
they are talking about the future
of China. The conversation was all
about Life Science and the Medical
Center. There is a new airport pro-
posed for Beijing. They want to lo-