Today, tech centers like Silicon Valley are becoming the economic heartlands of several developed and developing countries, and the leaders in a sea-change that some have compared to the Industrial Revolution in scope.
Cities at the center of the IT Revolution are proving to be at the forefront of creating what the technologically saturated world will look like. No longer merely the domain of the stereotypical socially-inept nerds and borderline-criminal hackers, technology centers are magnets for a new generation of creative geniuses. However, the cities that house these highly skilled workers are finding that while attracting these programmers and engineers may not initially be difficult, holding on to them can be.
Tech companies are always looking for the “next big thing,” whether it is the next Skype or the next iPad; workers, likewise, are looking for the next start-up that they can shape and mold — and profit grandly from. Very few people in these tech cities expect — or want — the traditional career of working for one company until they retire.
These companies respond to this flux and high turnover by offering their employees benefits the likes of which most of us can only daydream about. The logic is not, as you might expect, that happy, worry-free employees are productive employees; rather, it is expected that if employees are going to have access to so many perks, they will become emotionally invested in the company’s success and will feel compelled to work toward high-quality results. It is an attempt to recreate the camaraderie and creative spirit of a start-up company within a multinational corporation, while minimizing distractions that may draw employees out of the office, such as a haircut across town or a stop at the dry cleaner.
Because so much is demanded of their employees, tech companies are not willing to limit their search for the best and the brightest by geography; physical distances between teams have become insignificant. A team based in Santiago, Chile may partner with another team working in Vietnam, while they answer to the corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. With the Internet, there never needs to be any downtime on a project when there are teams to hand off the baton across time zones, building virtual pathways between major cities. The country or continent no longer matters — it is the urban environment and infrastructure that are anchors.
To keep these companies from completely moving out of their city to another with a larger pool of potential talent, cities must invest in their local education programs and build up the population of knowledge workers. The perennial problem of “brain drain” and burnout of senior employees (not to be replaced by fresh, new workers) has become more pressing as competition goes global and grows more intense. To keep knowledge workers from leaving one city to work in another, more attractive city, the same loyalty to institutions that tech companies are working to cultivate must also be cultivated among the cultural institutions of the urban environment.
Technology cities are centers of innovation that are establishing not only how business is conducted in the future, but also how we perceive the very world around us. Whichever technology brand can gain market dominance, will shape the world around their products; by this logic, the city in which that company is based will have a competitive edge over all others.
So it is no wonder that building their very own Silicon Valley has become an economic priority for the countries that do not have one already. Just outside of Moscow, construction is underway on a technology park that the Kremlin hopes will blossom into a center of innovation and modernization for the ailing Russian economy. In China, the Shenzhen New and High-Tech Industrial Park is only one of the country’s six technology parks in the works. Israel is hoping to create a replacement for, rather than an imitation of, Silicon Valley. These countries are laying down fiber optic cables, funneling money into the research and development programs of local universities, planting cultural institutions that will attract and retain brilliant young professionals, and are creating bureaucratic systems that are friendly to investment and new business ideas.
Is it possible to create a Silicon Valley from the ground up? We will find out soon, if the right mixture of venture capital, knowledge, high-class universities, youthful enthusiasm, and freedom to innovate can be recreated.
a global affairs media network
Tech Cities
January 15, 2012
Today, tech centers like Silicon Valley are becoming the economic heartlands of several developed and developing countries, and the leaders in a sea-change that some have compared to the Industrial Revolution in scope.
Cities at the center of the IT Revolution are proving to be at the forefront of creating what the technologically saturated world will look like. No longer merely the domain of the stereotypical socially-inept nerds and borderline-criminal hackers, technology centers are magnets for a new generation of creative geniuses. However, the cities that house these highly skilled workers are finding that while attracting these programmers and engineers may not initially be difficult, holding on to them can be.
Tech companies are always looking for the “next big thing,” whether it is the next Skype or the next iPad; workers, likewise, are looking for the next start-up that they can shape and mold — and profit grandly from. Very few people in these tech cities expect — or want — the traditional career of working for one company until they retire.
These companies respond to this flux and high turnover by offering their employees benefits the likes of which most of us can only daydream about. The logic is not, as you might expect, that happy, worry-free employees are productive employees; rather, it is expected that if employees are going to have access to so many perks, they will become emotionally invested in the company’s success and will feel compelled to work toward high-quality results. It is an attempt to recreate the camaraderie and creative spirit of a start-up company within a multinational corporation, while minimizing distractions that may draw employees out of the office, such as a haircut across town or a stop at the dry cleaner.
Because so much is demanded of their employees, tech companies are not willing to limit their search for the best and the brightest by geography; physical distances between teams have become insignificant. A team based in Santiago, Chile may partner with another team working in Vietnam, while they answer to the corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. With the Internet, there never needs to be any downtime on a project when there are teams to hand off the baton across time zones, building virtual pathways between major cities. The country or continent no longer matters — it is the urban environment and infrastructure that are anchors.
To keep these companies from completely moving out of their city to another with a larger pool of potential talent, cities must invest in their local education programs and build up the population of knowledge workers. The perennial problem of “brain drain” and burnout of senior employees (not to be replaced by fresh, new workers) has become more pressing as competition goes global and grows more intense. To keep knowledge workers from leaving one city to work in another, more attractive city, the same loyalty to institutions that tech companies are working to cultivate must also be cultivated among the cultural institutions of the urban environment.
Technology cities are centers of innovation that are establishing not only how business is conducted in the future, but also how we perceive the very world around us. Whichever technology brand can gain market dominance, will shape the world around their products; by this logic, the city in which that company is based will have a competitive edge over all others.
So it is no wonder that building their very own Silicon Valley has become an economic priority for the countries that do not have one already. Just outside of Moscow, construction is underway on a technology park that the Kremlin hopes will blossom into a center of innovation and modernization for the ailing Russian economy. In China, the Shenzhen New and High-Tech Industrial Park is only one of the country’s six technology parks in the works. Israel is hoping to create a replacement for, rather than an imitation of, Silicon Valley. These countries are laying down fiber optic cables, funneling money into the research and development programs of local universities, planting cultural institutions that will attract and retain brilliant young professionals, and are creating bureaucratic systems that are friendly to investment and new business ideas.
Is it possible to create a Silicon Valley from the ground up? We will find out soon, if the right mixture of venture capital, knowledge, high-class universities, youthful enthusiasm, and freedom to innovate can be recreated.
