Technology Alone Not Enough

Penn State researchers have said that the technology alone can't create the next Silicon Valley and successful IT economies of Silicon Valley, Boston's Route 128 corridor and Ireland evolved because of a confluence of complex factors ranging from infrastructure to cultural attitudes.

Presenting her research at the Tenth Americas Conference on Information Systems in New York in a paper titled 'Infrastructural Challenges in Developing an Information Economy in Humboldt County, California, Penn State researcher Eileen Trauth said, "Some people have the naive view that if a region gets fiber optic cables, computers and a university, then companies will come and a knowledge economy will flourish.

The researchers studied rural Humboldt County in 2003 when the county had almost a 20-percent unemployment rate and an economy based largely on labor-intensive and seasonal industries. Information technology was seen as a means of enhancing existing companies' competitive edge and creating new business opportunities.

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