Burgum Fails to Make the Grade in Tech

(BISMARCK, ND) – Recently, CNBC released its annual state by state study, determining America’s Top States for Business. There was a glaring “F” in a subject that Governor Doug Burgum should be reasonably proficient at: technology and innovation.

Four years ago, Doug Burgum ran for Governor on his over 30 years of experience in the consumer technology industry. However, CNBC ranks North Dakota 42nd in the nation for technology and innovation. The number of patents issued, as well as health, science, and agriculture research grants were all taken into account. Given how large our agriculture sector is, the number of grants was considerably low. For comparison, neighboring Minnesota was ranked 7th.

In the private sector, about 20% of the budget is dedicated to research and development. However, state government, Burgum says, “is essentially running at zero.” He believes investing in infrastructure and technology that supports emerging tech such as artificial intelligence. In addition to “Ted Talks” he did a lot of “Tech Talks” in 2016 he told Vox “…and most government agencies are lagging behind private industry in technology adoption. There are big opportunities to re-invent government service delivery at all levels.”

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