New Jersey must act to stem telecom job losses, brain drain
When people think of the states that are on the leading edge of technological innovation, their thoughts often turn to California or Massachusetts and rarely to New Jersey. This is a shame, because we are home to the world's most important pharmaceutical companies, are a leader in the number of Ph.D.'s per capita and have had a long history as a fertile ground for innovation. We can reclaim that mantle if our leaders in Trenton and the U.S. Senate have the foresight to act.
New Jersey, once a leader in telecommunications, has seen intellectual capital and jobs leave the state. We were once the state with the second most telecom patents; now we are fifth. We have seen a 35 percent reduction of jobs in the communications industry in the past four years. With the economy increasingly driven by telecommunications, these numbers do not bode well for our future.
We need a state strategy to deal with this, and we need help from the federal government to overhaul our nation's telecommunications laws. These laws are relics of the past and don't accurately reflect the changing times. Unfortunately, reform of those laws is stalled in the Senate. Hopefully, we will see movement now that the election is over. There is no excuse to wait another year or two until New Jersey reaps the benefits of national telecom reform.
Federal reform is critical because our 20th century telecommunications laws create state-by-state fiefdoms that result in a patchwork of irreconcilable regulatory requirements that don't reflect the modern reality of the Internet, of optical fiber technology or other innovations.
There are additional steps we can take here in New Jersey. Gov. Corzine recently proposed the establishment of the Edison Innovation Fund, which would use an initial $150 million in state funds to attract an estimated $350 million in private capital. That's a smart idea. Public-private partnerships not only provide important financial leverage, they also send a powerful signal that a state is committed to a sustained program to foster growth in certain industries.
Bringing new technologies to the market can take years of research and development. Private investors and innovators need the assurance that state support for their efforts will survive the vicissitudes of changing annual budget priorities and crises. Gov. Corzine's proposal can help provide that assurance.
The governor has identified several industries that he thinks can provide the greatest opportunity for growth. They include communications, renewable energy, the life sciences, nanotechnology and stem cell research.
By clustering educational institutions, governments and businesses to coordinate activities and spur growth in this area, these innovation engines could be the driving force behind re-establishing our prominence in the high-tech economy. Schools like my own, Stevens Institute of Technology, would play an important role in developing technologies and training workers for these clusters.
The enactment of New Jersey's landmark telecommunications reform in August makes the state an especially attractive place for the development of groundbreaking telecom technologies. By reforming the state's antiquated cable television franchise law, New Jersey sent a profound message to telecom innovators that we want their business, and the jobs that they create. Already, companies like Verizon have made a massive commitment in fiber-optic technology in New Jersey. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
If Congress would enact federal telecommunications reform that accomplishes for the nation what the New Jersey reform did for the Garden State, remarkable growth in high-paying jobs would be realized. New Jersey could quickly leverage the recent investment in fiber-optic deployment and reap
benefits on a national or worldwide scale.
A national telecom investment strategy based in New Jersey would be as important as it is already so natural. We are in danger of having telecom entrepreneurs and engineers in other countries surpassing our nation's talent. We also face the possibility of a brain drain, as tech-savvy individuals and highly educated engineers look overseas for more lucrative opportunities. We need to build on New Jersey's leadership tradition and ensure that our economy is at the forefront of technological innovation.
{dcdc}Hal Raveche is president of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.