RI Nexus seeks to elevate tech-media sector

Last night's Providence Geek Dinner featured the official launch of RI Nexus, an ambitious new Web site from the RI Economic Development Corporation, which is meant to strengthen Rhode Island's growing information technology-digital media sector.

Jack Templin and Andy Cutler visited with N4N yesterday to talk up the site. It's got a lot of cool elements, including a blog, a calendar of upcoming events, a news radar, a directory of relevant RI companies, a statewide map, and forums.

Benjaim Gedan reports on RI Nexus in today's ProJo:

The state spent $80,000 to develop the site, paying programmers and financing a six-month outreach effort by Templin to solicit input from local companies and universities, according to Melissa L. Withers, a spokeswoman for the EDC.

State officials say that investment followed an analysis that counted 15,000 IT and digital media jobs in Rhode Island, paying an average of $69,510, far above the state’s median income.

Saul Kaplan, the head of the EDC, says he hopes RI Nexus will expand the sector by making it easier for companies to find employees. It will also help technology savvy Rhode Islanders “connect, communicate and collaborate,” trading ideas and forming new firms, Kaplan said.

The goal is to capitalize on the state’s size, often viewed as a disadvantage compared to larger cities, where a software developer can’t buy an iced coffee without stumbling on a crowd of computer scientists talking shop and trading tips.

A searchable directory on RI Nexus offers information on 200 local companies, universities and government agencies related to the IT and digital media sector. Individuals can also post their profiles, and participate in online discussion forums on the site.

With Rhode Island playing defense on the casino front, the geek sector, as I've written, offers some of the good news on the local economy.