California Leading the Way in the Tech Age
California is among the states that will lead the country in technology-driven business in the coming years, according to a recent study by the Santa Monica, Calif.- based economic think tank the Milken Institute.
The institute’s study was commissioned by the state’s Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency and TechVentures Network. It reported that California, Massachusetts and Colorado are in the best position to succeed in the tech age when compared on a state-bystate basis, followed by Maryland, Virginia, Washington, New Jersey, Utah and Minnesota.
“What [this report] says to us is that technology is still the most important element in determining regional economic success,” said Ross DeVol, director of regional and demographic studies for the institute and author of the report.
The report notes, “The demise of far-fetched Internet businesses hardly refutes the fact that new technology is changing the rules in many sectors of the economy. Science, technology and knowledge-driven innovation are critical to job and wealth creation in the new economics of place.”
According to the report, the keys to success are strong investment in science and technology infrastructure and leveraging those assets for economic development.
In conducting the research, the institute’s economists found a strong connection between science and technology investment and personal income gains, as well as overall state economic growth. More than three-fourths of personal income growth can be tied to increases in technology output, researchers found.
Other findings showed that the elements that make a state or regional economy vibrant and prosperous today are fundamentally different from those of the past as the economic performance of states and regions is determined by how effectively they use their comparative advantages to create and expand knowledge assets and convert them into economic value.
“You can’t just make investments,” DeVol said. “You have to harness them all—the entrepreneurs, the investors, the research, the workers—into real companies with real innovations that can make money. That will foster stronger economic growth and higher-paying jobs.”
The Milken Institute will be hosting a number of panels and discussions about where the state is heading during the State of the State Address Sept. 26 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. For more information, call (310) 998-2605. —Robert McAllister
