Apr 21, 2012

AnnaLee Saxenian Discusses the Emergence of the Silicon Valley in the San Jose Mercury News

From The San Jose Mercury News

Welcome to the new and expanded Silicon Valley

By Chris O'Brien

What is Silicon Valley?

For some people, it's a place. For others, it's a way of doing business. And for others still, it's a synonym for the technology industry....

Not only was the geographic boundary shifting, but so was the technology. Silicon Valley over time has grown to include software, networking equipment, the Web, biotechnology and more recently cleantech. Indeed, the chip industry that gave rise to the name has long since ceded its role as the region's leading tech industry, making the "Silicon" part of the name outdated.

"I think it's a fascinating process whereby the firms and the innovation ecology have spread in every direction it could," said AnnaLee Saxenian, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Information and a longtime observer and researcher of the valley's evolution....

While the case for San Francisco is solid, what about the East Bay?...

"Oakland has been puzzlingly slow to take advantage of the tech boom," Saxenian said. "But the trends are pulling activity north, and it seems inevitable that it will happen there, too."...

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Last updated:

October 4, 2016