• the ability of area universities to train skilled workers or develop new technologies;
• the presence of established companies/corporations to provide economic stability;
• the availability of venture capital; and
• the population’s entrepreneurial drive to start new ventures.

Metro Boston, home of the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other centers of technological innovation and excellence, is now an established powerhouse in technology, serving as an engine for both high-tech innovation and jobs. Largely due to Metro Boston’s preeminence as a technology center, Massachusetts is currently considered to be among the nation’s Leading Technology States:

• the Commonwealth was ranked number one in 2002 in “attracting funds to enhance the practice and culture of innovation” by the Milken Institute’s “State Technology and Science Index;”
• Massachusetts was ranked number one in the Progressive Policy Institute’s 2002 “State New Economy Index: Benchmarking Economic Transformation in the States;” and
• according to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s 2002 Innovation Index, Massachusetts ranks among one of six Leading Technology States in the country.

As several local reports have noted, however, Metro Boston and Massachusetts’ rankings, based largely on the growth spurt in software, telecommunications and biotech in the 1990s, are no guarantee of future success. Other cities and regions around the US are poised to attract workers, jobs, and businesses.

In this respect, Metro Boston and Massachusetts’ position nationally mirrors that of the United States internationally. The Milken Institute reported in 2002 that the United States is uniquely positioned for success in the 21st century with research and development expenditures that exceed the combined total of Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and Italy. At the same time, other nations are increasing their investment in both infrastructure and education. In 1999, the United Nations Human Development Program ranked the US as the lead exporter of high-tech products, but second to Finland in the Technology Achievement Index as measured by technology creation, diffusion of innovation, and human skills. It also ranked the US as sixth in the Technology Creation Index as measured by mean years of schooling, R&D expenditures and the per capita number of scientists/engineers.

Boston, Metro Boston, Massachusetts and the United States are under intense pressure from competitors for a share of the New Economy. Public policy and private investment decisions made over the next few years may well determine our relative ranking for decades to come.

Metro Boston rose in international importance in the biotechnology industry, according to “Mass High Tech Reports,” following the announcement in 2002 that the Swiss company Novartis AG will open a $260 million research center in Kendall Square, adding 215,000 square feet to its campus and hiring 100 new employees. Merck Research Laboratories is building a 26-lab research campus near Boston's Fenway neighborhood that will employ 300 scientists. These giants add to an industry already firmly rooted in Metro Boston, especially Cambridge.

Boston leads the way among comparable cities in the number of community-based technology training and public access technology centers, according to a preliminary study by Abt Associates. As of late 2002, there were 115 community technology centers in schools, libraries and special community tech centers throughout the city, with a disproportionate number in Boston's low-income communities. This is up from about 100 in 2000.

Contrary to popular perception, layoffs in large technology companies such as Lucent and Sycamore were more than offset by hiring in companies with fewer than 250 employees.   Employment in the Massachusetts telecom industry grew by almost 30% between 1998 and 2002 to a total of 131,790 persons, according to the Boston Globe, 11/18/2002.

In response to the demand for technology skills, the state's community and four-year colleges developed new IT programs in line with an incremental "career ladder approach" to ensure the availability of training at each "rung" of potential advancement. Likewise, the past two years have seen a marked proliferation of private-sector tech training centers.

In 2001, Mayor Thomas M. Menino launched LINC (Learning and Information Network for the Community) Boston II, a comprehensive five-year plan to use technology to continue student and adult learning at school, at home, and in the community.  By June 2003, LINC Boston II will demonstrate substantive accomplishments including “My BPS,” an innovative intranet for the entire public school community. LINC Boston II goals include: 13,500 new computers to Boston public school classrooms with appropriate curriculum and productivity software; progress on fully networked schools, technology-oriented professional development for teachers and principals: more than 90% of all 4,800 teachers having 50 or more hours of technology training and a computer on their desks; technology integration of Citywide Learning Standards into the curriculum by 1,500 teachers; and a comprehensive technological support system with a Help Desk, Technology Support with stipends for teachers, and over 400 TechBoston student interns placed in internships for summer and afterschool programs.

Boston-area schools are placing increasing emphasis on technology use and technology learning.  In 2002, two new schools — Boston's new TechBoston Academy, and Media and Technology Charter High (MATCH) School — opened, offering area students a technology-intensive public education at the high school level. The use of technology is growing in parochial schools as well. In 2002, the Catholic Schools Foundation joined with businesses to raise $40,000,000 for electrical and technology upgrades in Catholic schools and for appropriate teacher training.

Greater Boston's technology infrastructure vastly increased, with the installation of fiber optic cable and the recent roll-out of wireless computer networking for small- and medium-sized businesses in Greater Boston, according to the Boston Globe, 11/21/2002.

Non-profit sector technology support services increased, providing education for technology planning and implementation. These included new services from the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Summit Collaborative, Associated Grant Makers, and others.

Internet technology is increasingly used by non-profit organizations to improve service delivery. For example, The Center for Social Policy at UMass/Boston McCormack Institute is providing Management Information Services support to 60 Metro Boston agencies working with homeless people and to more than 250 homeless reduction and shelter programs. Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) has created ResourceNet, a web site and referral system to serve people seeking services and resources from Boston’s non-profit organizations.

Boston is bridging the digital divide, through the efforts of local communities with support from the Boston Digital Bridge Foundation’s Technology Goes Home (TGH), the South End Technology Center, the Timothy Smith Fund and many others, with the biggest strides made by people in communities of color and by women. The TGH and TGH@School programs target low-income minority populations in Boston’s poorest neighborhoods and have trained over 550 families and 1,100 individuals and brought technology to 5,000 people (an average of five members per family), who didn’t have it in their homes. Several corporations such as Cisco, Verizon, Fidelity, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Raytheon, FleetBoston, and industry associations also are contributing technology support to communities, non-profits and schools.

• Massachusetts risks losing its anticipated future share of biotech research, development and manufacturing due to the "perceived unpredictability of the local regulatory and permitting environment," according to the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
• Despite significant progress in Boston, Massachusetts schools lag behind those of most other states in computer and Internet access. The state of Massachusetts also provides comparatively few funds for teacher training in the use of technology.
• While progress has been made, a digital divide still separates low- from high-income residents and whites/Asians from blacks/Latinos in access to technology. Increasing public access to and use of computers and the Internet can reduce disparities between racial and socioeconomic groups in areas such as educational attainment, health and wealth creation. According to survey research by the Technology Goes Home @ School program, numbers show a large gap.  At the 4th and 5th grade level as of October 2002, surveys showed the average penetration rate for computers and Internet access at 30-35%.
• Massachusetts' technology-oriented workforce development system is fragmented and unfocused. A 2002 report published by Virtually Wired, "Beyond Access: Putting Technology Training to Work for Boston Residents, Technology Centers, and Employees," finds that few publicly supported technology training programs in Massachusetts offer training in advanced skills needed on the job, such as data management and the integration of applications. According to this report, fewer still offer training in areas of job growth.
• Massachusetts under-funds science and technology in its public universities, relying on private universities to maintain its reputation for excellence in science and math education. Other states are investing heavily in public educational systems.
• Local non-profit organizations lack the technological capacity to increase efficiencies and offset cuts in funding, despite their importance to vulnerable residents and their valuable contribution to regional economic and cultural vitality. Organizations such as the Community Technology Center Network, with the potential to offer technical assistance to small non-profit organizations, lack the resources to do so.

MIT's development of nanotechnology includes work in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, metrology and measurement, space, optics, and information processing. Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of the structure of matter at the scale of nanometers (one billionth of a meter) and the physical, chemical, and biological properties of systems to develop materials, processes and products for the future.

My BPS:  Boston is creating an on-line "community of 110,000" that will ultimately include all of the Boston Public Schools 60,000 students, the 40,000 members of their families, and the Boston Public Schools' 10,000 teachers and administrators. My BPS, which will take five years to complete, allows parents to participate more directly in their child's education by providing electronic access to homework, report cards and communication with teachers.

Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion's Villa Victoria in the South End and Camfield Estates in Lower Roxbury have embarked on projects to wire all residents, connecting them to one another and to local resources and offering access to new knowledge and opportunities. The wiring of Villa Victoria's 900-units includes computer and Internet access for all households, with training provided through a partnership with Cisco Systems and the Boston Foundation. In Camfield Estates, computer and Internet access, training and development of community-relevant web content for 100 low-income families, is being furthered through a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Hewlett-Packard. Both are breaking new ground in the use of technology for community building, empowerment and poverty reduction.

The Technology Goes Home (TGH) program, through Mayor Menino's Boston Digital Bridge Foundation, has trained over 500 families to use technology and has given new computers, printers and Internet access to each family.  Over 60 community-based organizations deliver the program in six low-income neighborhoods. The foundation piloted a school-based TGH model that will be expanded to 12 schools and 300 families in fall 2003.  TGH works to create and develop community, improve student's academic performance and enhance adult's employment opportunities.

New career pathways through programs such TechBoston, YouthTech Entrepreneurs and Year Up are building on community-based training, connecting inner city youth to technology jobs, community service and to two- or four-year colleges.  Year Up graduates will receive 21 hours of college credit after one year of intensive training.

Wireless broadband in being introduced in Codman Square, Lower Roxbury and the Boston Public Schools, which are experimenting with wireless networks to improve Internet access to schools and the community.

India and China are among the world's fastest-growing and largest technology markets, and have begun to build their own technology R&D infrastructure, education, manufacturing and marketing systems. With comparatively low labor costs, they also are attractive to major US corporations. India has more than half a million software developers, many of whom write programs for the world's largest corporations.  Indian companies also are building low-cost data warehousing, inventory management and e-commerce applications. China is not far behind. Together, India and China represent more than a third of the Earth's six billion people and a huge potential market. Ireland's public and tax policies also are attracting large technology companies such as Dell, Intel and Microsoft.