The Collective Approach to Harnessing Technology

Efforts like the Academy’s Technology in Economic Development initiative aims to advance economic development in the tri-stat region through technology.

Published March 1, 2000

By Fred Moreno, Anne de León, and Jennifer Tang
Academy Contributors

If, as the saying goes, two heads are better than one, imagine the potential for getting things done that 1,079 companies can have—all focused on advancing New Jersey as a leading technology center. As members of the New Jersey Technology Council, these companies share the unwavering commitment of Maxine Ballen to the efficacy of cooperative action.

“We can get more done collectively than individually,” says Ballen. After years of working with high-tech companies on an individual basis, she founded the NJTC in 1996 “to provide networking opportunities, information, and other services to foster the growth of the state’s technology businesses.”

It’s easy to see why Ballen’s role in The New York Academy of Sciences’ (the Academy’s) Technology in Economic Development (TED) project is a good fit. The focus of the TED project, a five-year effort made possible by a grant from the Starr Foundation, is not unlike that of NJTC. With TED, the Academy aims to create a leadership network that will promote rising global competitiveness in the tri-state region through technology-led economic growth. The rationale for the project? The collective assets of the region comprise a far more attractive lure to potential investors than the assets of any individual state.

Lessons for Successful Economic Development

Moreover, Academy studies of global trends during the 1990s revealed “lessons” for successful economic development—which the region is not yet applying.

The TED project has two goals: serve as a mechanism for regularly gathering leaders from industry, academe, and government sectors to create opportunities for improved economic strategies; and develop and share information that can lead to action by tracing trends in science and technology related to economic development.

Asked by the Academy to organize workshops to examine the relationships between universities and industry and workforce development, Ballen did what comes naturally: she pulled together many of the major players in New Jersey.

“We need to show the rest of the country that this is a high-tech region,” Ballen says. “I applaud the Academy for taking the leadership in doing so.”

Also read: The Economics of Transportation and Communications