SUMMARY
Massachusetts is sustaining its rank as a Leading Technology State and a center of technological innovation while Boston was the 5th “most wired city” in America in 2008, according to Forbes Magazine. Boston is the hub of the state’s science and technology workforce, and a center of job growth emerging from academic research institutes, start-ups and industry clusters. The City of Boston has made enormous strides in increasing Internet access for all and in bridging the “digital divide.” However, the great majority of Boston students lag their suburban and global peers in science and math education and the region is experiencing intensifying competition for high-tech jobs and talent.
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WHAT IS THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR?
Technology refers to the development and use of
tools
that change our relationship to the natural world. It includes: tools, from a basic shovel to the Hubble microscope; vehicles and
machines
such as boats, trains, engines and computers; infrastructure such as rails, bridges, the electrical grid or WiFi access; construction, medicine and business techniques; and cutting-edge innovations in fields such as telecommunications, robotics, nano-technology, medical devices and renewable energy.
Central to the Industrial Revolution, Computer Age and now he shift to a green economy, Greater Boston has long been a node of technological innovation. With a premier science university, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a constellation of technology-related trade groups such as the
Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council
,
Life Sciences Collaborative
and
Massachusetts High Tech Council
, and organizations such as the
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
that shape and coordinate strategies and policies, Massachusetts is a US leader in the proportion of per capita patents and home to 54 Nobel prize winners—most associated with institutions such as MIT, Harvard, Tufts, the University of Massachusetts and area hospitals. Within Boston, the City-Trust-funded network of more than 40
Timothy Smith Community Technology Centers
serving Greater Roxbury, along with the Boston Museum of Science’s
Computer Clubhouse
and programs such as Technology Goes Home—which trains families in computer technology and provides free computers, have leveled the digital divide considerably. In addition,
Common Impact
and the
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
help smaller nonprofit organizations and community development corporations fully harness the power of new technologies in their daily work while programs such as
Year Up
and the Organizer’s Collaborative provide training and access to jobs in the Technology sector. Greater Boston is also a center for open source software exploration and development.