 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
Cyberstates Make The Grade
After finding unprecedented growth in the technology industry nationwide, the American Electronics Association's Michaela Platzer has a message: California, watch out.
Although the home of Silicon Valley still leads the states in high-tech employment and exports, it is quickly losing its edge on the rest of the nation, according to AEA's "Cyberstates 3.0" report released this week. Platzer, the report's senior writer and researcher, notes that as other states develop technology-friendly policies they are wooing the industry away from California, with its high-priced housing and cost of living, to more affordable markets.
Cyberstates analyzes states based on their high-tech employment rates, wages for those industries and exports. Texas, Illinois, New York and Massachusetts round off the top five states, Platzer reports. Nationally, high-tech workers make 77 percent higher wages than their private sector counterparts, with the tight labor market and low unemployment rate driving up salaries. Texas leads in high-tech employment growth, with South Dakota and Georgia also increasing their job markets by wide margins. And New Hampshire leads the states with the greatest number of high-tech workers per capita: 82 per 1000 private sector workers.
Considering the wide geographic range of high-tech employment is pivotal in policy-making, Platzer notes, as it defies the myth that the high-tech sector is California-centric. Armed with this data, compiled from the government's Standard Industrial Classification Manual, AEA representatives can more effectively head to the Hill to tell policymakers the industry really affects their state, she said.
"We can say 'By the way, Florida, it's more than citrus and Disney down there. You're a tech state'," Platzer said. Representatives from states such as Minnesota, Ohio or Illinois, which may not consider technology their major source of economic fuel, should realize the impact the industry holds.
"They need to know why they need to care," she said.
Tech-friendly policies in states such as Utah and Washington have spawned high employment growth. With investments in education, better living conditions and culture, some areas like Austin, TX, and Atlanta, GA, are proof that firms can be lured from Silicon Valley.
"Georgia [which jumped from 16th to 10th in employment rankings] tells you tech-friendly policies of these states seem to be working," Platzer said.
But many technology policies, especially those that relate to the Internet and taxation, may not have a specific effect on those industries studied in the report. Because AEA uses a fairly conservative notion of "technology" and does not include e-commerce businesses such as Amazon.com or eBay in its findings, the future of the study, now in its third year, is unclear. The survey is based only on statistics from high tech manufacturers, software companies and communications services.
The FCC's Beltway Blues
While the Federal Communications Commission may have been looking for assistance in creating its five-year strategic plan, a Wednesday meeting with state and local representatives netted suggestions on a smaller scale: fix the Web site, offer additional information to consumers, and get out of the Beltway.
Many of the 25 consumer and civic advocates told Kathy Brown, the FCC's chief of staff, that hearings need to be brought to the public in order to make the agency more accessible, and that means leaving Washington to spread the message. Complaints also sounded that mainstream media outside large city markets fail to cover enough telecommunications issues, and the public may not be aware of the competition problems at stake. They also urged for increased communication and interconnectivity between state and federal communications regulators and for the FCC to step up its role as a resource for consumers searching for information.
Marilyn Praisner, a councilwoman from Montgomery County, Maryland, and vice-chair of the FCC's Local and State Government Advisory Committee, urged the staff to increase its interaction with state and local officials with the understanding that they need support as regulators of their local industries. And while many agreed the bond should be strengthened, the National Consumers League's Susan Grant warned the FCC against preemption of agencies at the state and local levels.
But a common push was one for increased and equal access for all citizens, especially those in low income or rural areas. Groups representing the disabled lobbied for rollout of technologies and local organizations emphasized the need to get basic phone services to Native American reservations. FCC Chairman William Kennard said that he would work for those causes, as unpopular with the industry as they may be.
"I'm more than happy to be a martyr to those issues, but I want to bring some of you all down with me," he said, laughing.
The meeting was the second in a three part series of public forums discussing the future of the FCC in the 21st century. Industry officials have already met with the group, and the next will feature representatives from think-tanks and academia.
Volunteer State Waits For E-rate
Tennessee's public schools are anxiously counting down the next 60 days, as an anticipated ruling from the Federal Communications Commission could have a drastic effect on the state's e-rate program.
The home state of presidential hopeful Al Gore, who has been slammed by opponents for creating what they have termed the "Gore tax" to fund the subsidy program, has been denied any funding until the FCC rules on a complex dispute brought by an ISP who bid unsuccessfully for Tennessee school business.
The state's public schools, which filed for subsidized Internet connections as a block rather than individually, each have a router and Internet service for which they have requested the funds. But the set-up, along with 17 complaints filed by Isis2000, an ISP that did not win the contract, attracted attention from the FCC. The Universal Service Administration's Schools and Libraries Division was forced to send the request directly to the FCC, which is set to rule on the issue within the next two months.
"The administrator determined that there was not a clear cut administrative answer and it was a policy question the commission needed to decide," said Jackie Shrago, the Tennessee Department of Education staffer who has been dealing with the case.
Meanwhile, the controversy has caught the attention of U.S. representatives from Tennessee, including Rep. Bart Gordon, D-TN. His office has been lobbying the FCC to move quickly on the matter, as the money needed is for the 1998-1999 school year.
"We have 96,000 computers installed now," said Dana Lichtenberg, Gorton's legislative assistant. "It's sad we're going to have to stop, but we've done an awesome job."
Last year, Tennessee received over $27 million in e-rate discounts, and has already dedicated a significant portion of the budget to the ConnecTENN Internet system, which networks every public school and library in the state.
—by Stephanie Lash
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
