NEW MEXICO (KRQE) –The state’s Economic Development Department opened the doors of the Office of Technology and Innovation on Tuesday. The department absorbs the Office of Strategy, Science & Technology.
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In 2021, New Mexico identified nine industry sectors where the Land of Enchantment held a competitive edge. These include oil and gas, film and television production, and outdoor recreation, among others.
Four short years later, State Representative Meredith Dixon, along with other sponsors, introduced House Bill 20, which was passed and signed in April of 2025, establishing the new Office of Technology and Innovation. “So the Technology and Innovation Office is really going to be focused on these high-growth science and technology areas. And, the four that are sort of called out in the legislation in the budget include aerospace and space. Advanced computing, which includes quantum artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, clean energy, and water. And then, bio sciences,” said Dixon.
While New Mexico is no stranger to these sectors, investment in them now could mean we’re on the ground floor of several multi-billion-dollar industries.
As part of the bill, the state is committing $90 million to develop these sectors, which includes $40 million for research, development, and deployment. Then, $20 million for quantum technologies and more than $22 million for various grants and talent recruitment.
Director of the Technology and Innovation Office, Nora Meyers Sackett, said that a number of promising start-ups have come from entrepreneurial scientists already developing concepts at the labs. As private industry is playing a bigger role in such federal programs as space exploration, cultivating these businesses now could have a big payoff for the state down the road. “The creation of the Technology and Innovation Office is really just a reflection of the fact that New Mexico is at the forefront of the growth of technology innovation in the US and also globally. We are fortunate to have two Department of Energy national labs here, have an Air Force research lab here, and have world-class higher education institutions,” said Meyers Sackett.
Along with the establishment of the office, the state is hoping to become the “first and only designated quantum tech hub in the federal tech hubs program.”
Meyers Sackett said that grant opportunities will be available for both established companies and start-ups as well.
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