Dive Brief:

• The University of California, Davis and the city of Sacramento have chosen the UC Davis Health Campus as the location for the first phase of the 25-acre Aggie Square hub, a collaborative technology and innovation campus.
• The hub will bring together researchers, businesses and government in a public-private partnership (P3) and create jobs to help solve some of the city’s biggest issues, officials said. It will also serve as an incubator for small businesses and startups.
• In a statement, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the hub will "not only ensure a tight connection to the school’s great minds and resources but will also create jobs and economic development in the heart of Oak Park, along with more real opportunity for young people from all low-income neighborhoods in Sacramento."

Dive Insight:

StateScoop reported that Sacramento is looking to move into the global technology marketplace and it is leveraging the resources available at UC Davis. "This campus will serve as a key connecting point between the innovation happening in our region and the cutting-edge exploration happening at UC Davis," said Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA).

As cities look to solve problems in new ways, partnerships with academic institutions could be crucial, both in competitions for funding and also for general research, cooperation and pilot programs. These private-public partnershps also can help support small businesses and startups, which often are at the vanguard of innovation and  producing new solutions for cities.

This latest step is not the end, as funding sources for Aggie Square still need to be finalized, a market analysis must be performed, and detailed concept designs must be developed of the final site. But officials see the possibility of this collaboration to transform Sacramento, while simultaneously taking advantage of UC Davis’ research and offering possible internship and employment opportunities to students.

"Aggie Square has the potential to serve as a model for bringing diverse communities together for positive change," UC Davis Chancellor Gary May said in a statement.