September - 2006 The Valley Patriot 19

Innovation Valley BLOG KickoffInnovation Valley BLOG Kickoff

promise in the long term based on theirextensive research and analysis, and thenthey estimated the future impact of thepostulated technologies on society.

In the detailed RAND report, thet e c h n o l o g yappl icat ionsthat appear tobe botht e c h n i c a l l yfeasible andlikely to beimplementedwidely by2020, because they serve at least a medium-sized market and raise little to no significantpublic policy issues, include the following:1. Cheap solar energy; 2. Filters andcatalysts for water purification; 3. Ruralwireless communications; 4. Communicationdevices for ubiquitous information accessanywhere, anytime; 5. Green manufacturing;6. Targeted drug delivery to organs ortumors using molecular recognition; 7.Rapid bioassays using bionano-technologies (the capability to rapidlyperform tests to verify the presence orabsence of specific biological substancesand to perform multiple testssimultaneously); 8. Tissue engineering (thedesign and engineering of living tissue forimplantation and replacement); 9.Ubiquitous radio frequency identification(RFID) tracking of commercial products andindividuals (RFID tagging); 10. Hybridvehicles; 11. Improved diagnostic andsurgical methods; 12. Quantumcryptography (the use of quantummechanical methods to encode informationfor secure transfer); 13. Drug developmentfrom screening (design and screening ofmolecules for drug development based oncomputational analysis of drug-relateddata); 14. Body monitoring and control fordisease management; and 15. Smart systems(systems that respond to external stimuli or

Innovation Valley (www.ivalley.org)

Can the Merrimack Valley Business Community Align with Predicted Business Opportunities for the Future

Seth J. Itzkan & John Michitson

Business

This month’s article kicks-off theInnovation Valley BLOG (www.ivalley.org);in fact this article is a BLOG entry. So bydesign it reads like a BLOG. ForresterResearch (www.forrestor.com) definessocial computing as “a social structure inwhich technology puts the power inindividuals and communities, notinstitutions” A BLOG is one of many socialcomputing technologies. We happen toagree with Forrester on the power of socialcomputing; consequently, we are initiatinga peer-to-peer conversation across theMerrimack Valley and web to answer thefollowing question: Can the MerrimackValley business community align withpredicted business opportunities for thefuture? Only you as a peer can answer thatquestion. We are hoping that you will visitthe BLOG to respond to this article withcomments, or better yet, provide additionalcontent to shed light on the topic.

Of course the first step is to try to identifythe best business opportunities for thefuture, which isn’t easy. Since there are nocrystal balls available, we decided to conferwith a reputable source to start theconversation, namely The RANDCorporation. Specifically, we referencefindings in the following publication byRAND: “The Global Technology Revolution2020, In-Depth Analyses Bio/Nano/Materials/Information Trends, Drivers,Barriers, and Social Implications”, dated2006. The document can be found atwww.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2006/RAND_TR303.pdf.

Report Summary

The RAND Corporation is a highlyrespected non-profit think tank thatperforms objective analyses in the publicinterest. First, RAND identifiedtechnologies with the most economic

instructions - for example, buildings androads that adjust properties based onenvironment, kitchens that cook withwireless instructions.)

The RAND report highlights that most ofthe tech-nologies listedabove dependon develop-ments in morethan one of thet e c h n o l o g yareas (e.g.biotechnology,

nanotechnology, materials technology, andinformation technology) beinginvestigated. The convergence of thesedisciplines and technologies is contributingto the accelerated pace of development.Examples of such cross-disciplineintegration include electronic textiles withconsumer and medical applications; andcontinued miniaturization and increasedfunctionality of RFID chips.

It is strongly suggested that you browsethe referenced RAND report in areas thatyou have interest in. There is a wealth ofdetailed information that is not typicallyavailable to corporate businessdevelopment organizations or governmentstrategic planners. The RAND report,together with other sources, could prove tobe a viable tool for economic development.

There are many more sources, includingcontent on the web, that also address futurebusiness opportunities. Do you have asource that you are familiar with that youwant to reference on the BLOG? Does thecontent re-enforce or refute the RANDfindings or drill down into more specificmarket segments? Are there any additionalbusiness opportunities for the future thatyou would like to bring to the attention ofpeers?

After debating and predicting the mostlikely economic development opportunitiesfor the future, the next step will be to addresswhether or not the future businessopportunities fit in with the MerrimackValley. For example, do we have, or can webuild, the appropriate work force for thepotential enhanced or new industries? Whathurdles stand in the way and can we mitigatethem? What specific actions can thecollective business, academic andgovernment sectors take to enable newbusiness opportunities? These are justsome of the tough questions that we needto grapple with down the road.

Preliminary Observations

Let us jump the gun with some initialobservations regarding RAND’s view of

long term business opportunities andwhether or not there is potential to exploitthem in the Merrimack Valley.

We are very excited that Greenmanufacturing was identified by RAND asa key technology for future businessopportunities. As you know, we are tryingto jumpstart the Green Chemistry industryhere in the Merrimack Valley. Our preliminarybusiness plan is posted on our BLOG. TheRAND opinion correlates with informationcontained in an Associated Press article,“Venture Savant Doerr Bets on Green”,dated April 11, 2006. It indicates that Venturecapitalists invested more than $1.6 billionin clean technology companies last year,up 35 percent over 2004.

The field includes technologies relatedto water purification, air quality,nanotechnology, alternative fuels,manufacturing, recycling, and renewableenergy. Renowned high-tech VC John Doerris earmarking $100M additional funds for“green technology”, on top of $50M alreadyinvested. (Mr. Doerr made his name andfortune with early investments in Netscape,Amazon, and Google). Mr. Doerr says, ‘’Thisfield of greentech could be the largesteconomic opportunity of the 21st century”.

RAND’s citing of rural wirelesscommunications as a significant economicdriver in the future also hits close to home.As we covered in a previous article,Haverhill’s USAi.net (www.usai.net) isalready providing Internet service to farmcountry and plans to provide wirelessservices there in the near future. As anoutgrowth of MVA.NET, based onWashington Street in downtown Haverhill,they are now a national player in wirelessInternet services. According to USAi.netpresident, Dave Spaulding, they haverooftop access on 30 buildings in Bostonand are equally represented in New York,Los Angeles, and ten other major U.S.markets.

Finally, when it comes to cheap solarpower, another future business opportunitycited by RAND, the Merrimack Valley mayhave a leg up on the competition. Ascovered in a previous article, Konarka(www.konarka.com) has developed aprocess to print sheets of photovoltaic filmthat can be woven into clothing and buildingmaterials. Using nanotechnology, Konarkamakes low cost sources of renewable poweruniversally available.

Konarka has a multi-million dollar contractwith the Pentagon for solar products,including a tent made of photovoltaicmaterial. Consumer products are next.

Since there are no crystal ballsavailable, we decided to conferwith a reputable source to startthe conversation, namely TheRAND Corporation.

Seth Itzkan is president of Planet-TECH Associates, aconsulting agency identifying innovations in economicdevelopment. Recently, Mr. Itzkan helped The BostonFoundation to conceptualize and implement its Hub ofInnovations tool. You can email him at seth.itzkan@gmail.com.

John Michitson served as a Haverhill city councilor for 10years; the last two as president. He is a manager andelectrical engineer at the MITRE Corporation in Bedford,Mass. John and his wife, Heidi, are enjoying the childhoodof their 4-year-old daughter and 6 year-old son.jmichitson@mva.net.

The Innovation Valley initiative seeks to help stimulate economic growth andquality-of-life enhancements in the Merrimack Valley. Every month we will report

on innovative businesses, practices, and ideas that are helpingto make Merrimack Valley the place to be. Look for ourarticle in print media and online at www.ivalley.org.