High Tech Exports: Everything You Need to Know About the August Innovation Index

By Will Flanagan, Chicago Inno:

Every month, the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC) - in collaboration with the Illinois Innovation Council and World Business Chicago - publishes the Innovation Index, a deep-dive into a particular sector or trend to shed some light on where Illinois stands in the global innovation economy.

This August, the Index took a look at Illinois' exports and focused specifically on the High Tech Industry. Here's everything you need to know about this month's Index:

Why use exports as a metric? First, volume of exports is an indicator of connectivity with worldwide markets. Second, it's an easy way to measure economic health.

Ok, so broadly, how'd we do? Since 2009 (post recession), goods exports across all industries increased 58.8 percent, from $41.6 billion to $66.1 billion.

Is that good? I need some context. How about this - the national average was a growth of 49.6%.

Great, but I read you for tech news; how'd we do in tech? Even better. Eight of Illinois’ high tech industries grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding the U.S. average. And the high tech industries made up 20.2% of all goods exports from Illinois, totaling $13.4 billion.

Any stand outs? Yep, in 2013, 4 categories registered record export goods values - precision instruments, pharmaceuticals, communications equipment, and magnetic and optical media.

What's our best category? Volume-wise, precision instruments registered 2.3 billion dollars in exports. Comparatively though, at $1.9 billion,  Illinois more than tripled the national average CAGR in pharmaceuticals.

Any categories that we're not doing well in? Yea, from '09-'13, we dipped 20% in Software and 4.5% in aerospace products.

Anything else? Well, though the state's high tech goods grew by 4.5% from '09-'13, the national growth average was 7.4%.

And...? And small and medium enterprises accounted for only 90% of the state’s exporters, compared to 98% nationally. This suggests that the state needs to focus on growth beyond just its large corporations.

So what should I make of all this? Great question. This index clearly states that exports are growing in Illinois' high tech sector. This is a good thing. But while Illinois is growing, it's growing at a rate slower than the national average. This is an ok thing.