Truth be told, I struggle somewhat with a definition for the Knowledge District, as I think it’s largely an aspirational notion at this stage – that is to say, mostly hopes and dreams of an innovation economy emerging from the research enterprise that has developed here in Rhode Island over the last several decades. Clearly, it’s a work in progress, but with much of the heavy lifting yet to occur.

I think projecting a provenance for such a district can be problematic, particularly when done pursuant to political fiat, as seems the mode of action with the Knowledge District thus far.

It bears noting that the way it became known as the Jewelry District was as a result of the efforts and successes of the entrepreneurs who built that industry here in Rhode Island. The name was conferred long afterward. Taking a page out of that book might serve us well here; maybe devote more attention to actually building a knowledge-based economy in the district than developing a brand name for what we would like it to become.

A classical Copernican rendering would probably pinpoint Ship Street Square as the center of the universe as far as the Knowledge District is currently concerned. In fact, there’s a raised wooden structure built by Brown University on just that site where one can sit and contemplate many of the more significant “planets” comprising the system. Within close range you have Brown’s Laboratories for Molecular Medicine and the recently dedicated Warren Alpert School of Medicine.

Within a short walk are Lifespan’s Galetti Building at Claverick and Clifford and Care New England’s Kilguss Research Institute at Chestnut and Elm.

At the high end of Point Street is the Coro Building, where Lifespan has been relocating much of its research enterprise in recent years. On the western edge is the initiative recently launched by Johnson & Wales with their Center for Physician Assistant Studies.

And, to the east is the collaborative effort announced by URI and Brown to re-purpose the Dynamo House as a School of Nursing and administrative functions.

At opposite ends of Clifford Street, you have EpiVax and NABsys; Shape Up the Nation is located just in-between.

And, of course, across the northern rim of the district are the 30 acres or so being developed by the 195 Commission, awaiting visionary plans.

Recognizing that the Jewelry District per se is by no means alone in the universe of those who might claim knowledge as competitive advantage, it is worth noting that there are other dimensions of the innovation economy that have a role to play of their own.

Just north of the district, in the ‘new’ Old Stone Bank Building, is Brown’s School of Public Health. Up and over College Hill there are a diversity of research and engineering labs, with a new School of Engineering planned at the corner of Hope and George.

Downtown is the home of URI’s Providence Campus, and both RISD and Johnson & Wales add their own unique contributions to the knowledge-based economy taking shape.

Pushing the outer edge of this universe to the south, just west of the wind turbines built by the Narragansett Bay Commission at Field’s Point, there is the revitalization of the old commercial/industrial zone near Washington Park. Redevelopment in this emerging neighborhood is being led by Belvoir Properties, they who pioneered the Jewelry District’s rejuvenation before handing over the reins to Brown. With attractive commercial properties extending from Allens Avenue to Eddy Street, Belvoir has already outfitted facilities for several promising startups, including UtiliData, CytoSolv and Ns Gene.

So, the question as to where it begins and where it ends is not such a simple task. As for where it all converges? Probably fair to say that the answer still awaits a truly big bang.

In Cambridge, this occurred back in the 1980’s with the establishment of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the launch of biotech leaders such as Biogen, Genzyme and others. These initiatives sparked the revitalization of Kendall Square.

In Boston, it occurred more recently with the relocation of Vertex Pharmaceuticals as anchor to what’s been dubbed the Innovation District, located in the Seaport District southeast of downtown.

In New Haven, Yale University acquired the former Bayer Research Labs, hoping to develop a “West Campus” as the university expands well outside of a dilapidated downtown. For Providence, the die is yet to be cast at anything rivaling this scale.

In an earlier era, Rhode Island made some bold leaps toward building its innovation economy, though by reaching beyond its urban core. There was the WelGen manufacturing facility in West Greenwich, which went on to become the world's largest mammalian cell culture facility at the hands of Amgen, the world's most successful biotech company.

There was the AlphaBeta project in North Smithfield, which now serves the global manufacturing needs of Connecticut-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals, a company which today commands a market cap in excess of $20 billion.

And, of course, there was CytoTherapeutics, the Brown/Lifespan spin-out that went on to develop numerous biotech facilities in Lincoln and elsewhere off Route 146.

Arising out of the wind-down of CytoTherapeutics, Neurotech Pharmaceuticals went on to become one of the state's biotech leaders, eventually consolidating operations in Highland Corporate Park.

The Cumberland-based development boasts as its lead tenant none other than CVS Caremark, the world leader in pharmacy services. While in the aggregate there is critical mass to be proud of, it is difficult to conclude that these “knowledge economy assets” comprise a coherent or, better still, integrated strategy.

In recent years, some of Rhode Island’s more significant efforts in support of a so-called ‘knowledge-based economy’ have centered around Providence per se.

How ‘knowledge-based’ that focus is a more debatable proposition. In 2005, gambling technology company GTECH relocated to Providence, lured by a sweetheart contract with the RI Lottery that ran for as far as the eye could see. When acquired one year later by the Italian firm, Lottomatica S.p.a., many wondered whether the center of gravity in GTECH’s world was likely soon to shift. In 2010, we backed 38 Studios, the video gaming startup that hoped to build its business in Providence. In this case, there was less to debate, as the company was bankrupt by 2012.

If success in building a knowledge-based economy is to occur, a goal which has arguably eluded us here in Rhode Island thus far, it calls for convergence around a more coherent plan. Life sciences, research and health care, particularly in the new era we have entered, presents most promising possibilities along these lines. Against this backdrop, there could not be an initiative more poignant and timely than that being launched by ConvergenceRI. Hats off to they who are seizing the day!

Richard G. Horan is the senior managing director of the Slater Technology Fund.