The INOV8 blog tracks the latest news and trends in technology and innovation throughout the world
Ideas follow the crowd, right? A look at this map from numbersusa.com reveals population growth and shifts in the U.S. by county since 1980.
Note the growth and how it seems to reflect hotbeds of innovation and research — Silicon Valley, Calif., central North Carolina (Raleigh-Durham), south central (Austin) Texas….
Arkansas has experienced medium growth overall since the ’80 census, according to the data. But Washington, Lonoke and Saline counties have seen “rapid” growth, while Benton County’s growth is categorized as “explosive.”
Unfortunately, a big swath of Arkansas through the Mississippi Delta and LA — that’s Lower Arkansas — is stable or declining in growth.
Most of the innovation being generated in Arkansas, and certainly most of the patents issued, seem to originate in northwest and central Arkansas.
Will it take some of that innovation to drive business, and therefore people, back to south and east Arkansas?
Can our state reverse the population trend away from the Delta? Does it even need to? Let us know what you think in comments.
I think NWA has, and will continue, to benefit from the Wal-Mart effect (attracting talent to the region)–it just needs to harness that aura and convert it to new endeavors.
I realize that this is a technology blog, but I think it’s pretty clear that Saline and Lonoke counties were exploding for other reasons: 1) growth of suburbia in general, and 2) white flight. I’m sure there are other reasons that others will know better…
I think, frankly, that if we’re talking about building a tech/knowledge based economy in Arkansas, the Delta is not a realistic option and that focusing on it may be a waste of resources–the education rates, population decline, etc are too difficult of hurdles. The only way that the Delta would attract tech-type jobs is due to some of its inherent characteristics–such as its agricultural economy suddenly becoming the basis of a green economy… Even then, it would not be of considerable size simply because the underlying fundamentals are not there, e.g., education levels.
I’m glad that AR is investing in biofuel/biomass centers, but is it anything to separate us from the pack? All you have to do is casually browse any major university to see that various alternative energy centers are cropping up everywhere. (My own, out-of-state college has invested over $100M to date.) I think investments we have made to date merely keep us up with the status quo in that every state is investing in alt energy research in some way.
IMO, if you want to truly create a tech/knowledge economy, you’ll have to do more than simply keep up with the Joneses. You need to rearrange the rules of the game–differentiate AR from the rest–so that not only do we cultivate and retain our own talent, but we pluck talent from other states. There is a zero-sum game element involved here–a finite amount of talent (although there is potential for more given better educations). NWA is fortunate to have the world’s biggest Co. because it can be used as a springboard…
I supposed this organization’s (IA) role is to assist local talent and build a good base for extending a tech/knowledge economy?
The only real options for building any significant tech presence are in LR area and NWA area, but I’ve been rambling too long.
I agree with most of the above comments. I am also glad that there is an acknowlegement that there has to be some specialization in the areas that you can compete with in practicality. There may be some niche technologies like biofuels and some of the nanotech technologies that are viable sub-niches for technology in Arkansas based on specific dynamics. However, to have an overall, more global goal of being a center of technology and “knowledge based” jobs is a farce.
I know this goes against the grain in regard to where resources are being allocated and who is getting $ to propetuate this agenda. (I will say that in a very very long term there may be possibilities of succes, but my comments here are directed at any more meaningful time frame) Arkansas, will NOT be a technology based economy. Before I’m labled a pure nay-sayer, here me out. Have you ever tried recruiting experienced executive high tech talent to Arkansas? It can be done, but you would be better strategically positioned to be in one of the technology hubs. If I were a capital investor in a technology company I would most suredly be located in Boston, Austin, Research Triangle, NC, Dallas for Telecom, or Silicon Valley. There are exceptions to this, but I would want access to the greatest choice of my human resources. High tech people go to these places and they stay in these places. They are taking career risk by moving out of them and they know it. There is a professional synergy that exists in these markets. If you are out of the market, you are out of the loop. There are obviously execptions to this. But to dismiss my thoughts would mean that you have never tried to recruit top executive high tech talent out of one of these markets to somewhere like a Little Rock. I HAVE, on multiple occasions. The best example was in recruiting a CEO and a VP of Technology development for an incredible software company in a pre-IPO phase in Charleston, SC. Charleston is a garden spot from a quality of life perspective. The roles and the company couldn’t have been more ripe to attract top talent. However, I will tell you from first hand experience that I repetitively heard the above objection in moving out of one of the prime tech markets.
Again, there are exceptions. However, if, as a state, we are putting a disproportionate amount of our resources to the goal of creating a technology based economy we are shorting our own economic development of other product/service companies and jobs that we could be creating. There are long range strategies, but we are in an employment situation that should be chasing shorter term, more pragmatic solutions that create meaningful, lasting jobs.
I have spent 18 years in strategic executive recruitment. This is the absolute foundation of any organization, but is so very often overlooked based on it being more of a secondary function within an organization. Those that involve a strategic recruitment plan at the beginning of the company’s architecture have an exponentially better chance for success than those that treat it as a mechanical or reactionary function.