Stop chasing the next big industry. Build on the one you already have.

Technology shapes almost every aspect of modern life, but some of its most important stories are found beyond the commercial world. With TechFinitive Impact, we hope to offer a platform to leaders from charities, educational institutions, non-profit organisations, research bodies, social enterprises and other mission-driven organisations to share their expertise on how technology can address society’s biggest challenges. These articles are intended to inform, inspire and encourage meaningful discussion around the role technology can play in creating positive change.

Here, Kian Kamas, Interim Managing Director of Tulsa Innovation Labs, argues that communities do not necessarily need to chase the latest technology or emerging industry to create economic opportunity. Instead, he looks at how regions can build on the industries, skills and infrastructure they already have, using innovation to evolve those existing strengths and create new opportunities for their communities.

When a new technology captures global attention, communities quickly begin asking how they can compete. We’re seeing that with technologies like artificial intelligence and autonomous systems. But joining the race is not always the strongest economic development strategy.

The strongest approaches leverage a community’s distinct assets and capabilities while responding to its needs. That requires understanding where a region already has a credible advantage and how innovation can amplify it.

For Tulsa, the goal has always been to create more high-quality jobs and expand economic opportunity for the people who live here. Technology is an important part of that work, but we do not pursue it for its own sake. We begin by identifying regional needs, evaluating the assets already in place and determining how innovation can connect the two.

Transformation is often an evolution

Economic transformation can seem to require leaving the past behind and building an entirely new identity. In our work in Tulsa, we found that the industries that shaped our region provide the strongest foundation for what comes next. They carry generations of knowledge and an established network of workers, suppliers and infrastructure that can evolve to meet new demands.

Aerospace, energy and manufacturing have long been central to Tulsa’s economy. As we considered where the region could compete in emerging technologies, autonomous systems stood out as a natural extension of those capabilities. The United States is looking to expand its capacity to manufacture and test drones for defense applications, and Tulsa has the experience and infrastructure needed to contribute.

That advantage is not tied to a single facility or program. Tulsa manufacturers are applying their experience producing large components for airplanes to the smaller, highly precise parts drones require. At Skyway Range, WindShape’s 20,000-square-foot indoor testing facility can recreate a range of weather conditions, allowing companies to test how drones respond under conditions they may encounter in real-world operations.

The pathway continues beyond testing. The University of Tulsa’s established strengths in cybersecurity, engineering and research made it a natural fit for Green UAS certification, which allows companies to demonstrate that their commercial drones meet strict federal cybersecurity and supply-chain standards.

Together, these capabilities create a pathway for companies to build, test and certify commercial drones within the same region.

Similar evolutions are taking place across the United States. Upstate New York’s history in manufacturing and radar technology helped lay the groundwork for its growing semiconductor industry. Chicago is building its quantum economy around the region’s research institutions and national laboratories, supported by broader coordination among university, business, government and philanthropic leaders across Illinois.

The opportunities differ, but each region is extending capabilities already embedded in its economy to meet new demands.

Strong ecosystems make growth more durable

Attracting a company is not the same as creating economic opportunity for the people who already live there.

The local impact depends in part on whether residents have the skills and pathways needed to access the jobs it creates. Workforce development cannot begin after a company arrives. It must be built alongside the industry itself.

In Tulsa, that work includes Tulsa Tech’s Advanced Mobility program, which prepares Oklahomans for careers in advanced manufacturing. A Registered Apprenticeship program we developed in partnership with the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance gives participants another way to develop industry-relevant skills through on-the-job experience. Participants in the apprenticeship program are earning wages 70% above the state median.

Together, these programs help ensure that growth in advanced technologies translates into higher-paying careers for Oklahomans. They also give existing employers the talent they need to expand and strengthen the region’s ability to attract new companies.

Prepare now to move with purpose

An asset-based approach does not mean moving slowly. Innovation is advancing too quickly for communities to wait until every question has been answered. Regions must be clear-eyed about the changes ahead and prepared to act. Building the partnerships, infrastructure and workforce programs needed to support an industry takes time, so that foundational work must begin before the right opportunity emerges.

No region has to be good at everything. A focused strategy allows communities to invest deeply and build on their advantages over time. The goal is not to invent a new identity every time the market shifts or a new technology emerges, but to evolve existing capabilities intentionally. Technology can accelerate that evolution, but the true measure of success is whether it strengthens regional industries, creates better jobs and expands opportunity for the people who call that community home.

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