In the keynote during the IASP2009 opening, Andrew Witty, chief executive officer of GlaxoSmithKline, started and ended with the thought experiment, "What would North Carolina look like without Research Triangle Park?" Witty lived in Raleigh in the 1990s, and has seen the growth of this region. He said GSK is proud of its innovations arising from its investments in locating to RTP.

Collaboration and investment are important for a science park to succeed, he said. But in creating the partnerships, the first question to ask is "Do you like each other." In other words, shared values and goals are crucial.

So is government support and protection of intellectual property. "Intellectual propertyundamental to creation of value, and is a crucial dimension to securing long-term innovation investment," he said.

Talent, too. He won't invest in a science park if there's no access to a deep talent pool. RTP is example of the perfect place, he said, with three great universities nearby.

The good: RTP. The bad: nameless science park somewhere in the world built by real estate speculators in hopes of building value. "Build it & they will come will work, but it's more than bricks and mortar." It takes integration, and it's better to have a focus on software more than hardware.

Witty then described how gold mines in South Africa (as example) dig down deep in search of seams of gold. He likened these periods of discover to periods of innovation. "Seams don't last forever without investment for seeking the next seam, the next rich vein of discovery." Science parks and science in society in general, then, will soon need to embark on another round of investment and discovery.

At GSK, said Witty, they're thinking about whether to get into your business, to accelerate potential development of breakthrough technologies. "We want to break down the walls to our research facilities," he said, in the hopes that the collaboration supported by that openness will help the company find the next great seam of innovation.

"What would North Carolina look like without RTP? If that doesn't get you up in the morning, I'm not sure what will."