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Technology
Greater Boston is a world center for technological innovation, but its high tech sectors were hit hard in the recent economic downturn. Technological innovation continues, however, in both traditional and emerging areas such as wireless, robotics, nanotechnology, and radio frequency identification. Massachusetts is also emerging as a center of open source software development. And Bostonians are helping to bridge the digital divide, as local universities advance distance learning, and community technology centers thrive. The Boston Public Schools’ student-to-computer ratio jumped from 63:1 in 1993 to 6:1 in 2004. Yet concerns are emerging about constraints on access to wireless services, which advocates for low-income communities believe is the key to leveling the playing field.
Did you know?
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Greater Boston is home to a range of technological innovations, ranging from the first telephone prototype, invented by Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison’s first two inventions (a vote-recording machine and the stock ticker), to the beginnings of ARPANET, the computer network that spawned the Internet, to the sequel to the Semantic Web which is being invented at MIT under the auspices of Tim Berners-Lee.
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There are more than 70 locations in the City of Boston with access to wireless Internet services, and more than 40 of them are free.
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Boston was the first US city to connect all of its public schools to the Internet, thanks to collaboration between the Boston Public Schools and the Mass Internet Council.
See Technology Highlights for the sector Context, Key Trends and Findings, Major Accomplishments and Innovation, Remaining Challenges, and Competition.
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Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, The 2007 State New Economy Index Benchmarking Economic Transformation in the States (02/07): This report uses 26 indicators to describe the opportunities for growth by states in the "new" (knowledge-based) economy. Massachusetts ranks 1st overall, though it lags competitors in on-line users, technology in schools, e-government and other areas.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Venture Capital Investment in Health Industries Report: Q4 and Full Year 2006 Results (02/07): Venture capital spending on health industries now surpasses other industries, with New England securing over $1 billion in such funding during 2006.
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, 10 Years of the Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy (12/06): Reports that Massachusetts continues to be a strong player among Leading Technology States (LTS), but it also faces weaknesses that contribute to slower growth than other LTS.
The Information Technology & Innovation Fund, Global Flows of Talent: Benchmarking the United States (11/06) (pdf): Provides an evaluation the flow of highly skilled workers to competitor countries, including as assessment of affect of immigration policy on these flows.
U. Illinois Chicago Center for Urban Economic Development, Information Technology Labor Markets: Rebounding, but Slowly (06/06) (pdf): The IT industry is showing signs of a turn around, though Greater Boston has been one of the slowest of the IT clusters to recover.
Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, The Complete Guide to the Mass Software Industry (10/05): a publication which catalogues the state’s information technology industry. This is available for a fee.
Pew Internet & American Life Project, Data Memo: Teens, Technology, and School (pdf) (8/05): parent and teen surveys on Internet accessibility, including views on cheating, use of instant messenger software, and technology for college searches. Teen Internet use has grown 45% since 2000.
Pew Internet & American Life Project, Teens and Technology: Youth are Leading the Transition to a Fully Wired and Mobile Nation (pdf) (7/05): demographic data by gender, locale, race, and family income; conditions of technology use; social contexts; and communications tools, including Internet, cell phone, instant messenger, landline, broadband and gaming.
See Research for more recent reports.
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Mass Insight releases Technology Road Map & Strategic Alliances study.
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