What’s next for Alabama? State technology, bio-research future is evolving very fast

Imagine an Alabama that regularly delivers breakthroughs in space exploration, life science, advanced manufacturing and national defense applications, where a generation of emerging tech entrepreneurs sets the course for business in the 21st century.

Actually, you don’t have to imagine it – officials say it’s already happening.

That’s the focus of a new campaign kicking off today from the Alabama Department of Commerce.

The following is the name of an extension of Commerce’s signature Made in Alabama campaign, which for the past eight years has spotlighted business and innovation in the state in both urban and rural areas.

Next will help tell the story of where Alabama is and where it is going.

We wanted to get a sense of Alabama’s future economy that is in place today, but moving very quickly, Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield said.

And we wanted to build on that Made in Alabama brand, which has been very successful. But we wanted to take a step forward, with a future vision of creating a more digital and experiential presence for our audience, which includes Alabamians, C-suite executives and site consultants and international business executives.

The campaign kicks off today at the 2021 Economic Development Association of Alabama Conference in Point Clear, and includes the launch of a new website with a snazzy video presentation you can see above.

The video features prominent Alabama brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Shipt, along with images of the DNA double helix, genetic sequencing markers, a microscope, banks of computers, cells and a rocket launch – images that easily illustrate the campaign terrain. .

In addition to sec. Canfields speech, Next is launched with a website madeinalabama.com/next with animated graphics and updates on the very latest happenings in the state – from additive manufacturing or 3D printing to electric vehicle manufacturing and digital smart factories.

The appearance of the Next campaign will also translate into digital and print ads, some of which will include QR codes to provide a three-dimensional experience.

Change is happening so fast in so many areas, Canfield said, it’s important to tell the story as it happens.

Technology and data applications are becoming increasingly intertwined, he said.

The life sciences have accelerated and COVID has played a major role with the development of vaccines and other new technologies in the development of therapies. Sciences dealing with special alloys to make vehicles and aircraft lighter are changing rapidly. We used to talk about a car industry, now we were talking about mobility. You see a marriage of industrial processes with data applications, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and start-ups are playing an increasingly important role in how our economy is shaped.

As Canfield said, part of the campaign story is already being told. Last week, state officials gathered in Birmingham to celebrate the opening of offices for Landing, the new startup of Shipt founder Bill Smith, who moved to the Magic City from San Francisco.

Some of those stories are known, others are just being discovered.

These include the development of NASA’s Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever built, a 365-foot vehicle carrying 730,000 gallons of fuel, and the fact that Alabama produces approximately 1.4 million vehicles per year.

But there is also work from researchers at the HudsonAlpha Center for Plant Science and Sustainable Agriculture, where research is underway to find ways with biotech tools to improve crops, maximize fuel production from plant biomass, reduce fertilizer use and use fungicides. to eliminate.

Part of what we want to capture was an idea of ​​the future Alabama will have, and how that growth will be experienced, and what that will look like, Canfield said.

What happens around the state tells the story. There is a lot of noise in the market disruptions due to the supply chain, COVID-19. We wanted to create an opportunity to be heard above that noise.