National IQ innovation district debuts in NoVa

On Wednesday, leaders from Arlington and Alexandria officially launched the National Innovation Quarter, or National IQ, an innovation district designed to accelerate “public-private collaboration and the delivery of cutting-edge technology solutions.”

The district is in National Landing, and its founding partners include economic powerhouses such as Amazon, Northrop Grumman and SAIC. National IQ also has the support of Virginia Tech and organizations like the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. and the National Landing Business Improvement District. Officials gathered Wednesday at the National Landing Experience Center to announce the district.

“Since establishing HQ2, we’ve seen the power of bringing the right minds together in the right place,” Holly Sullivan, vice president of worldwide economic development policy at Amazon, said in a news release. “National Innovation Quarter does exactly that in order to tackle some of our nation’s most complex challenges and work collaboratively to create breakthrough technologies.”

National IQ will begin searching for an executive director this month, while also rolling out programming and initiatives designed to drive economic and innovation outcomes. Think innovation challenges, product showcases and investor summits.

Encompassing Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard, National Landing is home to about 30,000 residents and has a median age of 34.

Evan Regan-Levine, chief strategy officer at JBG Smith, a Maryland-based real estate company and another founding partner of National IQ, pointed to National Landing’s assets such as ample office space, retail and restaurants, diverse housing options and a location within walking distance of the Pentagon and Reagan National Airport.

“This concentration of assets attracts the companies, talent and capital that matter,” he said in a statement. “National IQ gives structure to those connections and accelerates the momentum on the ground.”

Other early sponsors of National IQ include Auterion, an Arlington-based software development company; Leonid Capital Partners, a California-based private investment firm; and Technomics, an Arlington-based government contractor.