Senator Amy Klobuchar was in Minneapolis for what was billed as an Innovation Summit at the University of Minnesota on Tuesday. According to the Senator’s office, the summit was an opportunity to share information about how the public and private sectors can team up to strengthen the economy by revitalizing American innovation and promoting products abroad.

Senator Klobuchar also used the occasion to outline what was termed as a comprehensive package of legislation she will introduce to strengthen America’s ability to innovate and compete for long-term economic growth and job creation. (As of this writing, no specifics of that package have been provided by the Senator’s office.)

In the short term, Klobuchar said, “We need to deliver a series of targeted tax breaks and regulatory reforms designed to galvanize the private sector and unleash a fresh wave of invention, entrepreneurship, and exports.”

In the long term, she added, “We need to help secure our standing in the global economy, lay the groundwork for future innovation by improving science, technology, engineering, and math education; cut red tape; and increase the ability of our businesses to attract and retain the world’s brightest scientists, engineers, and researchers.”

We look forward to hearing more specifics from the Senator and applaud her efforts to re-energize innovation nationally and can think of no better place than Minnesota from which to start.

Yet another well kept secret in Minnesota tech and media is the Institute for New Media Studies on the campus of the University of Minnesota. In an effort to reveal that secret the Institute annually hosts an event to showcase the many resources available and projects underway at the University.

Held on Friday, September 18th at the Coffman Union, though not standing room only, this year’s program was presented to an interested group and included information on projects addressing journalism, social media, gaming and art, to name a few. It also showcased the institutes facilities including focus group rooms and eye-tracking software used in site design and usability studies, as part of it’s quest to provide the ability to do more applied research.

I had a chance to talk with Nora Paul, Director of New Media Studies about the goals of the gathering. “I think we’re kind of the ‘Yenta’ (referring to the matchmaking character in Fiddler on the Roof.) for the campus when it comes to new media. We try to make matches.”  she goes on to say that the event “brings together seasoned researchers with students.”

She adds that the Institute doesn’t want students, or others for that matter, to get “caught in silos” when comes to new media thinking. In line with that desire comes the offer of the resources and facilities to not only the campus community, but to the community at large to some extent. The Institute appears more than willing to collaborate with the private and education industries.

To find out more about the institute, interested parties including University faculty, staff, and students as well as professionals in the twin cities community are encouraged to join the New Media Research Network as well as follow along on Twitter, Facebook, Delicio.us and Flickr.