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Western Governors Create High Technology Council
The 18 governors who comprise the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) have agreed to create a Western High Technology Council to serve as a strategic alliance among states, technology firms and universities to advance the region's common interests in the technology-driven and knowledge-based New Economy. Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano, WGA Chairman, proposed the idea at the WGA winter meeting held in Las Vegas during December.
The governors asked Intel, Silicon Graphics, and other interested companies to work with university partners and WGA staff to develop a business plan for the proposed council. A concept paper prepared for the governors' discussion suggested the Council's membership initially include 15 to 20 high-level representatives from information, health, and biotechnology industries and leaders from academia and the public sector.
The paper also suggests that the council form broad-based work groups comprised of stakeholders and academia to develop recommendations on specific issues. Any council recommendations developed in the next six months would be reviewed by the governors at their annual meeting to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, June 11-13, 2000.
The concept paper listed several issues the council could consider related to: privacy and security of information; ethics; workforce development; appropriate protection of intellectual property rights; and, trade and international competitiveness. The council's actions would be expected to advance both economic and social goals. One key goal would be the development of a working partnership between the public and private sector to ensure technology and the "high-tech culture" benefits both rural and metropolitan areas throughout the Western states.
The governors also discussed Arizona's strategic approach for supporting clusters of businesses as a successful strategy for focusing state economic development efforts. The WGA website suggests regional cluster analysis will serve an integral role in the development of specific strategies or recommendations for the Council.
More information, including the concept paper, can be found at the Western Governors' Association website: http://www.westgov.org/