SMU study reveals untapped innovation potential in Dallas-Fort Worth

Dallas-Fort Worth has all the right ingredients to be a national powerhouse for innovation—from a robust economy, world-class research universities to a diverse, dynamic workforce—yet an SMU-led study found the region isn’t fully realizing that potential.

The study, published in IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, found that DFW’s innovation productivity is lower than expected based on its assets and strengths. The metroplex was measured against 65 U.S. regions in patent activity after adjusting for income, education, unemployment, and startup activity.  

"Dallas-Fort Worth already has the talent, resources, and momentum to compete with the country's leading innovation regions," said SMU's Khaled Abdelghany, one of the lead 

researchers of the study. "Our findings show not a gap, but a tremendous opportunity—DFW is poised for significant growth if the region mobilizes its strengths."  

Having a strong innovation ecosystem is important for a city or region, because it accelerates new inventions, fosters economic growth and creates skilled jobs by connecting diverse stakeholders like businesses and universities. 

Patent counts are often used as a proxy for determining this, because they’re evidence of new ideas and are publicly available and measurable. 

Unlocking DFW’s innovation potential

Abdelghany, who is a civil and environmental engineer professor at SMU Lyle School of Engineering and is a fellow at the Stephanie and Hunter Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity, identified several key opportunities to help North Texas strengthen its innovation ecosystem: 

• Expanding STEM education through scholarships and programs that prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
• Increasing corporate investment in research and development beyond immediate profit goals.
• Enhancing collaboration between companies and universities to build a regional innovation ecosystem.

Researchers from The University of North Texas, The University of Texas at Arlington, Dallas Regional Chamber and Texas Research Alliance assisted with the study, which was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). SMU postdoctoral research fellow Inam Khan was the lead author of the study published in IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. 

A data-driven look at innovation

The multi-university team came up with their findings by creating a predictive analytics framework, which allowed them to predict  what the patent count for a city or region should be based on several different variables.  If a metropolitan area produced a lot more patents than expected  they were rated high in innovation productivity. But cities with lots of potential for being a patent-producing juggernaut received a lower score for innovation productivity if they didn’t meet that. 

The SMU-led research team used a comprehensive dataset from 3,222 U.S. counties that looked at more than 100 different factors, compiled primarily from government sources from 2022. 

Despite DFW’s innovation output being about 35% below predicted levels, the region’s underlying strengths position it well for improvement. “The gap is not a weakness—it’s a roadmap,” Abdelghany said. “It tells us exactly where to focus to turn potential into measurable progress.”

Link between STEM education and innovation

The framework the researchers designed also made it possible to identify which factors have the most impact on a given outcome.

Interestingly, STEM education infrastructure was found to be more influential than other factors in improving innovation productivity for the cities studied. The study shows that a 50% increase in STEM degrees was associated with a 33% rise in innovation productivity.

Abdelghany said regional ecosystem policymakers should take an extensive look at the study’s data-driven insights to diagnose weaknesses in their city and implement customized policies to make it more friendly to innovation.  

“Dallas holds enormous potential ready to be unlocked,” Abdelghany said. “By investing in education, collaboration, and R&D, we can turn North Texas into one of the country’s most vibrant innovation hubs.”