Will investing additional broadband resources in university towns create new inventions that ultimately create high-value jobs? According to last week’s op-ed piece by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, the answer is yes. Friedman makes a compelling case that today’s growing mountains of available data will become the new raw material of industrial innovation. He writes, “The best of these ecosystems will be cities and towns that combine a university, an educated populace, a dynamic business community and the fastest broadband connections on earth. These will be the job factories of the future.”
University towns contain a rich resource of raw data, scientific knowledge and highly educated scientists and researchers. However, just harboring a research university should not automatically qualify a town for additional broadband. Friedman omits one major piece of the puzzle: many college towns lack a strong industrial base, meaning they are not home to manufacturing companies, nor to populations of people who make their living bringing products to market.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Allocating broadband: university towns, manufacturing towns or rural areas? « Triple Helix Innovation
