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THE CONTEXT
KEY TRENDS AND FINDINGS
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND INNOVATIONS 2002 - 2004
REMAINING CHALLENGES
COMPETITION
THE CONTEXT
Greater Boston is a global center of technological innovation. Historically it is the birthplace of discoveries that have shaped daily life, from the first instant camera and sewing machine, to the first PC software and email, to efforts to make public water drinkable (see: Innovation: Boston 400 Years of Discovery). The region is home to a network of accomplished research centers, including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Boston University, and University of Massachusetts, as well as 16 teaching hospitals, which have faculties responsible for a number of patented breakthroughs each year. High-tech corporations and innovative start-ups are numerous, populated by a highly-skilled workforce of trained scientists and engineers.
Massachusetts is on the cutting edge of emerging fields of medical devices and nanotechnology, and Boston is at the forefront of efforts to address the "digital divide" that exists in the access and use of technology. Efforts such as the City-trust funded network of more than 40 Timothy Smith Community Technology Centers throughout Greater Roxbury, the Boston Computer Museum’s Computer Clubhouse (now part of the Museum of Science), and programs such as Technology goes Home — which trains entire families in the use of computer technology and provides free computers — have leveled the technology playing filed in the city considerably. In addition, groups like Harbinger Partners and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) have worked to help smaller nonprofit organizations and community development corporations fully harness the power of new technologies in their daily work. Large corporations, citywide initiatives and community-based programs, such as Year Up and the Organizer’s Collaborative, provide training and access to the newest technologies. Greater Boston is also becoming a center for open source exploration. Yet competition is quickening around the country and the world in the technological fields in which Greater Boston has excelled — and for highly educated workers it has attracted and trained that are proving to be among the most vulnerable to offshoring and outsourcing.
KEY TRENDS AND FINDINGS
Greater Boston remains a center of technological innovation and excellence, despite emerging competition. While regions throughout the US and the world are racing to develop the kind of capacity for technological innovation and the highly qualified workforce that characterizes Greater Boston today, Metro Boston retains the competitive edge in most technological sectors, and is seen as second only to regions of California — from Silicon Valley to San Diego — in most cases. However, as India develops its software capacity and China moves to the front in high-tech manufacturing, businesses and jobs that once seemed "destined" to remain in Boston are increasingly vulnerable to competition from regions in the other six "Leading Technology States" (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Minnesota, and Colorado), and other regions on the globe.
Local technological innovation is taking place in both traditional and emerging sectors including security, wireless, medical devices, bio-IT, and embedded systems and nanotechnology. Greater Boston is home to local leaders in robotics, such as the Burlington-based iRobot, and radio frequency identification (RFID), which was originally created by an MIT Professor and has been applied to recent innovations such as Fast Lane.
Technology is transforming teaching and learning. Local universities are advancing distance learning, with MIT's free OpenCourseWare widely available on-line and Boston University's first on-line class graduating in 2004. In the Boston Public Schools, the student-computer ratio rose from 63:1 in 1993 to 6:1. As of 2004, 95% of BPS teachers had received 50 hours of technology training. Virtually Anywhere User Library Technology (VAULT), available through the Boston Public Library, enables schools to create their own "library kiosk" of information from the library’s online database and features homework help and book search services for students. (see indicator 9.3)
Wireless services are expanding in Boston, but concerns have emerged about a new, wireless "digital divide." Boston ranked 17th out of 100 cities nationwide on Intel’s 2nd annual Most Unwired Cities survey for the greatest wireless accessibility: as of late 2004, there were 72 locations, 42 of them free, with wireless Internet access in the City of Boston listed on sites such as WiFi Hot Spot, WiFiFreeSpot, and BostonFreeFi. Newbury Open.net promotes free wireless access along Newbury Street in Boston’s Back Bay. Boston is also considering adding wireless technology to four subway stations, enabling the use of personal digital assistants and mobile phones. The emergence of WiMAX technology — capable of covering a range of as much as 30 miles and potentially providing access to thousands of users — is an opportunity to make Greater Boston a broadband Internet hot zone. However, implementation requires that tough decisions be made on how to reallocate Boston’s broadcasting spectrum and address competition with — and the needs of — licensed wireless technologies.
The nation’s highest concentration of biotech companies is in Massachusetts. This includes field leaders such as Biogen Inc., Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Genzyme Corp. Biotech increased its share of venture capital in the state from 10% to 31% between 2001 and 2003, according to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. Yet experts warn about the growth of the sector in states such as North Carolina and California, which are fiercely competing for start-ups and mature companies.
The Mass Software Council identified 2,781 total companies with revenues of $10.5 billion in the state in its 2004-2005 Complete Guide to the Massachusetts Software Industry. Some 66% of companies surveyed planned to expand workforce over the next 6 to 12 months, and 31% reported staff increases of 20% or more. Small, entrepreneurial software developers and distributors are major players in the state’s software industry, according to a 2003 Mass Software Council survey. About 65% of state software companies surveyed have 25 or fewer employees; 75% have $5 million or less in revenues; and 13% are owned by women or minorities. This compares with 11% of software companies surveyed with more than $50 million in annual sales.
Massachusetts is emerging as a leader in open source software development, which encourages improvements through the distribution of source codes outside of the licensing and distribution regulations that protect proprietary companies. Novell Inc. recently moved its corporate headquarters to Waltham from Provo, Utah; and the North Carolina-based Red Hat Inc. designated a site in Westford as a development hub, according to the Boston Globe in November 2004.The LinuxWorld Conference & Expo for the first time held its annual conference in Boston, at the Hynes Convention Center. This will be the third major IDG tech conference with an annual East Coast show in Boston, following the Bio-IT World Conference & Expo and Macworld Conference & Expo.
Community technology centers have grown over the past decade as critical providers of free or affordable access to computer-related technology. Boston has one of the most state-of-the art and well-distributed networks of community technology centers in the nation located in "Greater" Roxbury. These were established and are endowed through the year 2019 by the Timothy Smith Fund administered by the City of Boston’s Trust Office. This initiative has created more than 40 community technology centers in Roxbury in partnership with local community-based organizations. The activities and programs of these centers are now coordinated by the Timothy Smith Network, which is also working with the National Science Foundation, MIT, Harvard and Smithsonian Museum to teach science to students at all levels at various Timothy Smith Centers.
New forms of public participation and creative expression are being enabled through technology, including greater access to tools and content for art, film, video and self-publishing, as well as production and distribution processes.The New England Creative Economy Council’s Art & Technology Initiative promotes collaboration between technology-based artists and engineers; the NewburyOpen.net Boston Music Project, sponsored by a group of wireless access businesses, provides a free distribution medium, and Do While Studio provides a space for artists to consider the social ramifications of technological expansion. Technology is enabling problem solving at the intersection of sectors, including the environment and health. Innovations in green building technologies, geothermal and smart building systems (see Environment) are creating healthier environments, and health care innovations, such as Electronic medical records (EMRs) and computerized drug order entry, are streamlining health care delivery. While the cost of high-tech health care must be balanced with proven low-cost approaches, such as diet and exercise, technology also facilitates public education about these choices and decisions.
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND INNOVATION 2002 – 2004
Recent Awards for Local Innovation in Technology
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The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration selected Wentworth Institute of Technology and the Mission Main Resident Services Corporation for the Mission Hill/Fenway Technology Collaborative as one of three finalists in 2004. The collaborative has provided more than 100 low-income families with computers and technology skills through Technology Goes Home since 2001 and established the tech-focused Youth@ArtTech summer program.
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The Northeast Green Building Awards competition awarded three Renewable Energy Trust-funded green buildings. The Capuano Childhood center in Somerville won first prize in the "Places of Learning" category. Others honored were the Gilman Ordway Building of the Woods Research Center in Falmouth and the Genzyme Center in Cambridge, according to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
The Boston Digital Bridge Foundation’s Technology Goes Home and TechBoston programs report impressive results. Some 87% of participants in Technology Goes Home — a school and community training program for inner city families — report increased connection to the community; 92% of parents cite improvement in children’s schoolwork; and 95% of participants reported significantly improved computers skills. More than 450 families took part in Technology Goes Home graduation ceremonies at the Wentworth Institute of Technology in June 2004. Roughly 80% of graduates of TechBoston — providing advanced tech courses for BPS students — go on to college versus a 65% district average, and more than 5,000 participants have been involved in paid internships at companies including Fidelity and JP Morgan.
The Museum of Science received $6.5 million in federal money for the expansion of a technology and engineering center. The museum’s National Center for Technological Literacy includes a focus on engineering developments and a curriculum program.
The first Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Summit was held to raise awareness about the need to better address these fields in K-12 education. The October 2004 meeting in Newton, Massachusetts brought together more than 300 K-12 superintendents, principals, teachers, representatives of local businesses and government, and higher education leaders.
Visit the Hub of Innovation’s Technology Section.
REMAINING CHALLENGES
Both the high tech and life sciences sectors were hit hard in the recent economic downturn. The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative notes that total employment in the nine key industry clusters of the innovation economy it tracks fell by 4% in Massachusetts between 2002 and 2003. More than 45,000 people moved out of state in that same time period, affecting the talent pipeline. (see Economy).
Smaller and community-based nonprofit organizations — with budgets under $250,000 — are challenged to access and afford the latest technologies and related supports. According to surveys of community-based nonprofits in Metro Boston conducted by Harbinger Partners, Inc., a technology support organization for nonprofits, between 2001 and 2004 the number of nonprofits with a technology budget rose from 34% to 59%. The number with a technology plan fell during this period, perhaps because technology is becoming more institutionalized. There seems to be a decline, however, in the number taking precautionary action, such as installing a firewall and having a plan for routine data backup. (see indicator 9.6.1)
Greater Boston’s foreign-born science and engineering workforce is at risk with new alternatives for workers and students. Newsweek reports that three years ago MIT had 385 computer-science majors versus 240 today, reflecting a national trend. The US ranks only 17th in the proportion of people 24 and older with degrees in science and engineering, a drop from third place in 1975, according to the National Science and Engineering Board. An American Electronics Association study found that foreign applications at graduate engineering programs in the US dropped by 36% in 2004. Annually, more than 50% of advanced degrees in engineering and mathematics in the US are granted to foreign students, and 20% of US scientists and engineers are foreign born. (see indicator 9.4)
Education and training are needed to expand technology opportunities and skills for local youth, women and men. Boston-based organizations such as Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology (WEST) and Girls Get Connected Collaborative are dedicated to improving education and opportunities for women and girls. Boston Area Advanced Technological Education (BATEC) aims to design a regional and educational workforce development program for IT; and Year Up provides one-year, intensive training for young adults in areas such as Desktop Support/ IT Help Desk and Web Production. Experts point to the need to prepare students to produce not just consume technological advances.
Rapid innovation and change creates "e-waste" from disposed computers and makes it harder for those left behind to catch up. On a national level, 2 million tons of electronic products are discarded each year, including 50 million computers and 130 cell phones, according to the International Association of Electronics Recyclers cited in the Washington Post. Though high tech "waste" accumulates, a vast majority of the world lacks access to online technologies. Bostonians are making efforts to address this concern, with the South Africa Township Schools Project working to make older computers available to South African students in partnership with the Boston-based South Africa Development Fund.
Uncertainty about the future of technology and risks to privacy and human interaction create a note of caution about unlimited technological development. Concerns about privacy in RFID technology — with capacity to collect consumer information in products purchased — led to cancellation of Wal-Mart’s testing of a wireless inventory control system in a Brockton, Massachusetts store in July 2003, yet nationwide, plans have moved forward, and RFID is installed in 104 Wal-Mart stores, 36 Sam's Clubs, and three distribution centers. Senator Jarret Barrios of Cambridge drafted legislation in 2004 regarding consumers’ right to know if RFID is being used and their ability to opt out or deactivate the technology at time of purchase, according to the RFID Gazette. Experts also report the need for "long-term planning for an information society" to address possible detriments to the quality of life from new technologies.
Attention is needed to keep Boston at the cutting edge of technology development. Questions about WiMax spectrum access and emerging competition particularly in fields such as biotech highlight the need for City and state attention to tech competitiveness. The Boston Globe suggests that the "Boston technological ecosystem" is more heavily geared to development of corporate rather than consumer technologies.
COMPETITION
Launched by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 2000, CivicNet leverages $320 million dollars in City spending over ten years, and additional millions in existing City resources, to provide incentives to the private sector to accelerate the development of high-speed communications to Chicago neighborhoods. The goal is to create the new infrastructure Chicago needs to compete for jobs, to improve education, to train the Internet work force, and to eliminate the digital divide. CivicNet aggregates the business of all the City agencies, including the Schools, City Colleges, the Park District, Housing Authority and Transit Authority, and positions their $32 million annual spending for voice and data communications in the role of anchor tenant.
California initiated a $3 billion initiative to fund stem-cell research — which is more than the federal budget for stem cell research. Proposition 71 will establish a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine authorized to disburse $300 million annually over the next decade, only available to California firms, according to a November 2004 article in the Boston Globe. Thomas Finneran, now president of Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, has noted Massachusetts’ need to meet the biotech competition challenge including stem cell legislation, reported by the Boston Herald.
Finland has been refining "National Innovation System" and "Information Society" strategies since the 1990s, designed to create visions and strategies for each sector.
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