Dallas has established itself in the upper echelon
of metropolitan technology centers, particularly in the telecom
industry. Some have described Dallas as a technology
“cluster”. Clusters, as defined by the Regional
Cluster Mapping Project of the Institute for Strategy and
Competitiveness at Harvard Business School (2005),
are:
Geographically proximate
groups of interconnected companies and associated institutions in a
particular field, including product producers, service providers,
suppliers, universities, and trade associations. Clusters arise out
of the linkages or externalities that span across industries in a
particular location.
Clusters arise because they
increase the productivity of competing companies. A strong
technology sector can be a driving force in regional economy,
attracting higher-paying jobs and a highly-educated
workforce. Developing and maintaining a
strong technology sector involves a number of factors to be
successful. Factors that contribute to development of a local
cluster include the following:
-
A well-established, stable
research and development sector, involving both industry and
academic sectors
-
A reliable source of venture
capital available to meet the needs of start-up enterprises lacking
the financial resources of large established corporations, but
possessing an entrepreneurial spirit and promising business
ideas
-
Sources of technically skilled
workers, supported by a local training infrastructure to meet the
demands of a strong technology business sector now and well into
the future
Dallas has developed such a
technology cluster. The economic downturn of the early 2000s
put a strain on the local economy’s ability to sustain the
technology cluster. However, recent trends, as reported by
Mary Jacobs in “Tech is waking up to a brighter day,” a
DallasNews.com article, indicate local industries are
witnessing a reversal of the trends seen during the “tech
bust”, and the coming years could see a resurgence in the
demand for skilled technology professionals.
This indicator presents data
and information for three indicators, which are listed in the grey
panel on the right side of this page. Specifically, the three
indicators within this aspiration report the
following:
-
Corporate & university
R&D & venture capital funding: Data from the National
Venture Capital Association, the National Science Foundation, Texas
Workforce Commission, the Alliance for Science & Technology
Research in America, Metroplex Technology Business Council, and the
Progressive Policy Institute
-
Workforce with strong
technology & New Economy skills: Data from the Progressive
Policy Institute, Center for Economic Development, and
AngelouEconomics
-
Demand for information
technology workers: Data from the Texas Workforce Commission,
the Progressive Policy Institute, and AeA