OKC VeloCity | Meet the Oklahoma City Innovation District

Editor’s note: This week The Better Life blog posts feature an “Innovation District takeover” as we welcome entries on this downtown area dedicated to cross-functional collaborative activity designed to spur more innovation, entrepreneurship and opportunity in a wide variety of industries. Read on for more about the district, its history, events and other connection points, and a bit about what’s in store for the future.

In 2019, Oklahoma’s Innovation Model was matched with its own district, and the Oklahoma City Innovation District was born. Research and analysis by the Brookings Institution identified Oklahoma City as having key assets and industries positioned for growth in innovation and technology. City leaders acted to create the right conditions to seize the opportunity and ensure Oklahoma City’s next-level participation in the global economy.

When describing the Innovation District, the term ‘district’ can be limiting, as it inhibits the imagination and understanding of what the Innovation District is truly creating – an ecosystem that is fueled by big thinkers and one that is poised for collaboration and innovation.

At its core, OKC’s Innovation District currently encompasses the 1.3 square miles east of Downtown. The District is home to the heart of Oklahoma’s bioscience and healthcare sector, where many institutions conduct groundbreaking research and foster entrepreneurship through innovation. The District is also a hub for academia, technology, aerospace, unmanned systems, specialized manufacturing and the energy industries. Well beyond its geographic boundaries, the Innovation District reaches across the city and state, to involve partners who lead on innovation, research, technology and entrepreneurship.

The shifting global economy reveals the emergence of dense hubs of economic activity where innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and placemaking all intersect. The District’s innovation ecosystem produces the programming and events, the cross-industry connections between people and ideas and the circumstances for commercialization, entrepreneurship, investment, job-creation and the growth of our City’s economy into the future.