[there are ten news stories in this post.]
The San Francisco Chronicle :: After IT, Silicon Valley must find new ways to stay on top
by John Shinal
...More than 60 percent of college students in China study engineering, while the figure at U.S. colleges is only 6 percent, according to Guardino of the Manufacturers' Group. Similarly, India has a pool of 17 million people with science and engineering degrees, said Vivek Paul, president and chief executive of Wipro Technologies. Still, even Paul, who works out of Wipro's Silicon Valley offices, said it's foolish to think that the region won't remain at the center of knowledge- based industries...
Business Report : Savannah :: Beaufort County Forecast: Economic Blue Skies To Stay
By Jason Harvey
...Greater Beaufort Chamber CEO Barnes told luncheon attendees that 2004 also would be an important year for recruiting knowledge-based industries to the Lowcountry. Study after study show that South Carolina needs to attract high-tech companies to diversify and solidify its economy, and Barnes thinks Beaufort County could be the perfect corridor for these kinds of companies...
Palladium-Item, Greater Richmond, Indiana :: Lack of education, crime can cost jobs
By Bernhardt Dotson
...There isn't a community in the world that doesn't have a poverty or education issue," said Jim Hizer, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County. One of the things his organization does is identify and address obstacles to development, growth and retention. "It's the companies that you never hear about that mark you off the list," Hizer said. "What you try and do is reduce the number of factors that a company would use to not locate or relocate to your community." A typical industrial client is looking for a workforce that is eager to learn and gain new skills, regardless of their economic circumstances. This is an area where Richmond excels, Hizer said. He said society is moving toward a knowledge-based economy, thus, within the next 30 years, the opportunity for economic success would be related to skill and educational level. In such an economy, Hizer said, community economic success would depend more and more on the skill level of workers. "If our workers lack skills, an increasing number of economic development opportunities will pass us by," Hizer said...
HollandSentinel, MI :: Courting the creative class
by Robert Gold
...HAPPY IN HOLLAND: Mat Nguyen, co-founder of the computer company Worksighted, worked with a Holland Area Chamber of Commerce committee to look for ways to convince more young entrepreneurs like him to stay in Holland rather than move to metropolitan areas. ...
Instead of trying to lure manufacturers to set up shop in Holland, the city must keep creative people who will stay loyal to the region, said Chris Byrnes, who leaves his job as chamber president Tuesday. With manufacturers moving production to countries with cheaper labor costs like China, the emphasis need to change from attracting businesses to attracting people, Byrnes said. Byrnes, who will continue working with the chamber on the project after he leaves office, said the idea grew out of a chamber retreat last year with Richard Florida, a Carnegie Mellon University professor who wrote "The Rise of the Creative Class." Florida argues that knowledge-based workers, engineers, designers and artists are a driving economic force and that these people often stay in an area because of their cultural opportunities...
The Oregonian :: Out of reach
by Bill Graves and Steven Carter
...Oregon follows a national trend. Financial barriers keep half of college-ready low-income students from attending a university and one in five from attending any college at all, the national Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance reported last year.
The United States is reducing support for higher education at a time when the rest of the industrialized world is expanding investments to keep pace with a knowledge-based global economy. The United States once led the world in the proportion of youth it sent on to college. Now it is about average, with many countries such as South Korea, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom exceeding it...
Daily Local News: Chester County, PA :: Commissioner candidates open up about open space
by Betsy Gilliland
...Land preservation has dominated Chester County discourse since 1989 when more than 80 percent of voters approved an open space referendum. Apparently, little has changed in 14 years. According to a December poll, said Peter Hausmann, a commercial developer, leader of Chester County Citizens to Save Open Space and former Chester County Planning Commission chairman, more than 83 percent of likely voters still support candidates who endorse open space initiatives. "Open space isn't just an environmental issue," he said. "It's an economic issue in a knowledge-based economy."...
The Economic Times :: Amma's bash had its share of global celebrities
by Joe A Scaria
...Hotmail founder and co-chairman Navin Communications, Sabeer Bhatia said India ought to educate her citizens in moving from a knowledge-based system to an inquiry-based system while ensuring education for all. India should also learn to celebrate the successes that no one in the country seemed to appreciate, felt Gururaj Deshpande, global chairman of TiE. "Perhaps we are overlooking some of the mega success stories in the country. Get them on to the front page. That will encourage them and inspire other aspiring entrepreneurs," he said...
TheStar.com :: Premier's 'links' to Martin flop: Poll
...Martin stressed the need for Canada to exploit the "knowledge-based" economy of the future - a line that is familiar to those who have been listening to McGuinty sing the praises of a highly-educated and skilled workforce as the true road to prosperity.
Speaking to the Star's editorial board on Friday, McGuinty was asked about the confusion among some voters between the federal and provincial Liberals and acknowledged that some of the votes his party receives in Thursday's election may be from people who think they are voting for Martin.
"I won't look a gift horse in the mouth," McGuinty joked, saying he is aware that some people do make that mistake, but stressing that he has campaigned hard on provincial issues and is confident that most Ontario voters are well aware of both him and his platform...
Times of Oman :: GOIC predicts 30pc growth in AGCC IT sector next year
...The GOIC secretary-general said some of the Gulf states had surpassed the international rates that measured the progress in communication, while some were endeavouring to catch up.
"To that effect, GOIC on many occasions, had called for taking the initiative to bridge the digital gap. The priorities of the Gulf states at this stage are to complete the infrastructure, promulgate necessary legalisation, transfer and localisation of technology, establish knowledge-based industries, etc. The priorities also include the launch of e-governments in the AGCC, in addition to attracting foreign investment after preparing the inductive environment," he added...
The Financial Express :: Economic Diplomacy Post-Cancun
...We need to develop a bit of a give-and-take approach in our negotiations with major countries rather than get locked into rigid ideological positions that could easily happen if India is posited into leadership role in the new-found G-21.
Secondly, we must look for expansion of regional trade, as most other countries are doing. India is held back in this by the hostility of Pakistan and Bangladesh. We should, as a first step, unilaterally free trade with our neighbouring countries (with appropriate rules of origin put in place), so that it would put pressure on the neighbours to reciprocate. In any case, it would help to create trading and manufacturing interest groups that should help to undermine political hostility to India in those countries.
Thirdly, we should be more proactive in identifying areas where foreign investment can be brought into the country without damaging our national interest. A litmus test is whether it is adding to our export capacity in knowledge-based industries, with strong vertical downstream linkages in the Indian economy. Investments of this kind cannot be easily shifted abroad, as they are human-capital based. By making such investments, other nations will acquire a strong interest in the security of India, and the prosperity of this country.
Fourthly, we should actively seek out trade and technological collaboration opportunities with other major Third World countries, such as China, South Africa, Egypt and Brazil. India is already building a reputation for knowledge based industries - information technology and pharmaceuticals. We should build on this reputation...
K-Collector