"Silicon Valley Can’t Be Copied" by Vivek Wadhwa, MIT Technology Review (03 July 2013) Cambridge, MA, USA. For 50 years, the experts have tried to figure out what makes Silicon Valley tick. The answer is people. By 1960, Silicon Valley had already captured the attention of the world as a teeming technology center. It had spawned the microwave electronics industry and set a pattern for industry-academic partnerships. French president Charles de Gaulle paid a visit and marveled at its sprawling research parks set amid farms and orchards south of San Francisco. Stanford University, which is at the heart of Silicon Valley, had given birth to leading companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Varian Associates, Watkins-Johnson, and Applied Technologies. These companies were pushing the frontiers of technology. There was clearly something unusual happening here — in innovation and entrepreneurship. [Frederick] Terman, sometimes called the “father of Silicon Valley,” had turned Stanford’s fledgling engineering school into an innovation engine. By encouraging science and engineering departments to work together, linking them to local firms, and focusing research on the needs of industry, he created a culture of coöperation and information exchange that has since defined the region. The Valley is a meritocracy that’s far from perfect, however. And some of its flaws tear at the very fabric that makes it unique. Women and certain minorities like blacks and Hispanics are largely absent from the ranks of company founders and boards. Venture capitalists have a herd mentality and largely fund startups that produce short-term results — leading to a preponderance of social-media and photo-sharing apps. Real-estate prices are so high that most Americans can’t afford to relocate there. Click on the article title below to read the complete text at the MIT Technology Review. #news #history #culture #personnel #science #scienceeveryday #sciencesunday #engineering #technology #innovation #capitalism #organization #entrepreneurship #business #industry #startups #siliconvalley #meritocracy #sharongaughan
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 17:02:37 +0000
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