Connecticut Releases State Technology Study

The Role of Technology in the Connecticut Economy, a new report produced by the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC), provides a comprehensive analysis of the role of technology in the state's economy. Overall, the report reveals both a strong technology contribution to the Connecticut economy, as well as the state's dependence on technology for achieving its economic potential.

The primary goal of the report is to draw attention to the technology resources in the state and to redefine how the state collectively views itself. The report's second goal is to start quantifying the state's technology resources in order to provide a basis for future planning and evaluation of technology performance over time. With this baseline data, private industry planners and public policy makers will be able to position Connecticut for growth in the future.

The study discovered that Connecticut's technology industries are growing. Findings of the report include the following:

• In Connecticut, the technology sector accounts for one-sixth of total jobs but more than one-quarter of total payroll;
• The five fastest growing technology-based industries added over 10,000 new jobs to the economy between 1990 and 1996;
• Connecticut is more dependent upon technology-based industry for new business formation than any other state, with technology-based formations accounting for 16.7% of total new formations;
• Wages per employee in technology-based industries increased 17% between 1990 and 1996; and,
• The private sector in Connecticut funds 85% of the state's total research and development.

The Executive Summary of the report can be found on the web at http://www.ctcweb.org under "What's New". For a copy of the full report contact SSTI at 614/421-SSTI (7784).