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Washington State As A Tech Leader
by Chloe Albanesius
Technology leaders gathered in Seattle this week to discuss policies needed to sustain U.S. global competitiveness, with a focus on how Washington state has contributed to the tech industry.
Technology-based industries accounted for 44 percent of total state employment in 2003, according to a study commissioned by the Technology Alliance and performed by two University of Washington researchers. Private-sector employment at tech companies in the state has jumped 213 percent since 1974, the report said, compared with 92 percent statewide employment growth during the same period.
"There's no doubt that America today is the global leader in innovation," Rick White, president and CEO of TechNet, which hosted the symposium with the Technology Alliance, said in a statement. "But it's increasingly clear that this status is not a given and we must enact policies to remain on top."
White, a former U.S. House member from Washington, called for policies that "further promote innovation-driven global competitiveness, led by a renewed investment in education, research and development, entrepreneurship and next-generation infrastructure."
Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, both Democrats, attended the gathering. Murray pledged to continue working on efforts to "bring broadband to rural areas, invest in education technology and provide incentives to spur innovation throughout our great state."
The future of technology relies on "shifting our focus from developing technology for technology's sake to designing experiences around people's passions and the context of their lives," said Jim Allchin, group vice president for Redmond, Wash.,-based Microsoft.
Texas Officials Defend Monitoring Law
Monitoring sexual predators after they are released from jail is necessary for public safety, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Tuesday in defending the state's "civil commitment" law.
The statute requires officials to monitor, sometimes electronically, those deemed to be a risk to society. Convicted rapist Michael Fisher successfully challenged the act in the state's 13th Circuit Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi.
A lower court in 2000 ordered Fisher, a schizophrenic, to be committed for outpatient treatment and supervision, which included restrictions on his movement and social contacts. Fisher appealed to the court on the grounds that the law did not apply to someone of his mental competency. The Texas Supreme Court heard the case Tuesday.
"We're defending a law that establishes an efficient, multi-tiered system for identifying predators who are most prone to repeat violent sex crimes," Abbott said in a press release. "To do otherwise poses too great a risk to the public."
"Texas has a solemn obligation to protect our citizens and to ensure that repeat sexual predators cannot prey on our most vulnerable," Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz said. "We are confident that the Texas Supreme Court will return Texas to the national consensus that states can act preventively to ensure that predators receive treatment and careful supervision."
Tech Coalition Praises Ohio Anti-Spam Bill
Americans for Technology Leadership (ATL) on Wednesday praised the Ohio legislature for passing legislation to combat unsolicited e-mail known as spam.
"This defining action will provide some relief to Ohio businesses and consumers who are being deluged with unsolicited e-mail that costs them time and money," ATL Executive Director Jim Prendergast said in a statement. "The increased criminal penalties in this bill make Ohio a tough-on-spam state and send a clear message to spammers that they will pay a high price for the harm they cause."
The measure, H.B. 383, which the state House passed Tuesday and which the Senate passed earlier this year, would outlaw deceptive Internet advertisements and impose criminal and civil sanctions against people who illegally send spam.
Prendergast warned that legislation alone will not stop spamming. He called for a "united front of consumers, technology and legislation," and an acknowledgement of the "innovative advances in technology and the actions by industry leaders to combat this problem."
Michigan Grant Will Fund Broadband Projects
Michigan's high-speed Internet coalition on Monday awarded $1.5 million to a local company to bring wireless broadband service to four cities and their surrounding areas. SpeedNet will be responsible for wiring Bay City, Midland, Mount Pleasant and Saginaw, home to some 175,000 households and businesses.
The company's technology aims to eliminate problems encountered by traditional broadband service, like interference due to trees and buildings, by utilizing technology that bounces signals through and around such obstacles.
"Access to high-speed Internet is critical to economic growth," Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, said in a statement. "We will do all we can to make sure the people of mid-Michigan have good jobs today and tomorrow."
Cingular Donates Computers To New Orleans Public Schools
Cingular Wireless donated more than 200 computers to the New Orleans school system, the company announced Wednesday.
A majority of the machines will be funneled to the city's Technology High School, where officials have made it a goal to provide every student with computer access.
The school has 100 students enrolled for the 2004-2005 school year and 200 readily available machines, "giving us room to grow while still maintaining our one-to-one student-to-computer goal," Lilia McCollum, the technology director for the city school board, said in a statement.
"Cingular's investment affords our students opportunities to work with the tools that will enable them to be competitive in a global environment," said Anthony Amato, superintendent of New Orleans' schools.
Taxing Californians By The Mile
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last month appointed a director of motor vehicles who has advocated placing global positioning systems (GPS) in cars so motorists can be taxed for every mile they drive.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Joan Borucki, a Democrat, included the suggestion in the recent California Performance Review, an audit ordered by the Republican governor.
While the idea is favored by transportation and budget experts, some say such a tax would provide little incentive to drive more environmentally sound and fuel-efficient cars because people driving hybrid cars and gas-guzzling vehicles like the Hummer Schwarzenegger owns would pay the same price. Privacy advocates also are concerned that the GPS systems on cars would be used for something other than tracking mileage and calculating taxes.
Variations of a tracking system are being tested in the Puget Sound region of Seattle and in Eugene, Ore.
N.C. Counties Compete For Dell Contract
Several North Carolina counties are competing to land the Dell computer maker's new assembly plant, AP reports. Dell announced it would build the facility in the state after the General Assembly approved up to $267 million in tax breaks and other incentives.
The company gave counties until Wednesday to submit proposals on their regions in order to decide where to build the plant. Dell will make a decision by year's end, a spokeswoman said.
Winston-Salem reportedly is offering $13 million in incentives for the deal, while Forsyth County's offer is valued at $14.76 million.
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