SRI International is one of the world’s largest and most respected research and consulting organizations. Founded in 1946 as the Stanford Research Institute, SRI is a nonprofit, independent, problem-solving corporation that provides a broad spectrum of basic and applied research and consulting services to business and government clients throughout the world. SRI's headquarters, principal offices, and laboratories are located in Menlo Park, California, a Silicon Valley community about 35 miles south of San Francisco and a few miles from the Stanford University campus. SRI boasts a staff of 1,400 professionals.

Nearly two-thirds of our staff members have professional and technical expertise, including management consultants, economists, marketing consultants, and other specialists. The majority of SRI’s clients are commercial corporations, associations, foundations, donor organizations, and agencies of local, state, and federal governments. More than 75 percent of SRI’s business comes from repeat clients.

The Economics Practice (URL: http://www.sri.com/policy/csted/)

SRI’s Lebanon project is carried out by the Economics Practice, which is part of the Center for Science, Technology, and Economic Development within SRI’s Policy Division. Based in Washington D.C., the Economics Practice provides top quality research, analysis, and advice to public and private sector clients seeking to make sound decisions and improve competitiveness in a changing policy and economic environment.

Having worked in more than 115 nations worldwide, and over 60 states, provinces, and communities in North America, the Economics Practice staff have acquired recognition as respected authorities on policy concerns, as sought-after sources of objective analysis, and as “consultants of choice” for developing concrete solutions to a wide range of complex economic problems. The Economics Practice has developed an extensive knowledge of regional economic dynamics and industrial change, and innovative economic, technological, and human resource development approaches. 

The Economics Practice is frequently asked to apply its broad expertise to develop strategies to address economic, technological, human resource, financial, and social issues. Project work often includes formulating strategies for public-private collaboration, building new constituencies for community problem-solving, designing new institutions, evaluating current policies, and providing technical assistance in implementing new strategies.

SRI pioneered the industry cluster approach to economic analysis and strategy development. SRI’s innovation was born from a need to evaluate economies and institutions in a manner that accounts for and sheds light on important regional comparative advantages. This innovative methodology goes beyond merely assessing the competitiveness of regional industries, to assessing the competitiveness of the links between industries and the links between industries and a region’s economic foundations. Economics Practice staff have utilized and applied the cluster-based approach in countries around the world and in communities and states across the United States. Click here to read more about SRI’s industry cluster approach.