The International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation
included such speakers as (left to right) Austin Mayor Kirk Watson;
UT Austin President Larry Faulkner; Rafael Rangel, president of
the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey;
George Kozmetsky, IC2 Institute Advisory Board chair; and Thomas
Meredith, Dell Computer Corporation vice president.

photo by María de la Luz Martínez

Just as Lyndon Johnson made a deep impact on the social and economic landscape of the country, he also left a lasting imprint on the physical landscape of Texas, said LBJ School Dean Ed Dorn in his remarks to participants of the Third International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation.

Referring to Johnson's well-known role in getting his congressional colleagues to allocate money in the 1930s to build dams on the Colorado River, Dorn said this project transformed the region by bringing a crucial piece of technology--electric power.

"Without that (electricity), later advances would not have been possible," Dorn remarked.

Traditionally, the annual conference--which focuses on current and future uses for science and technology in regional economic development--is held in an emerging, developing, or developed technology region. Previous conferences were held in Macau, China, and Lisbon, Portugal.

This year's conference looked at global knowledge partnerships in creating value for the 21st century. Held at the LBJ School, the event drew more than 300 researchers, government officials, practitioners, and educators from 34 nations.

As the host city, Austin was the topic of two of the conferences' plenary sessions. On the opening day, Mayor Kirk Watson discussed the city's struggle to balance its phenomenal growth against the need to preserve its environment.

In his remarks, Watson addressed some of the areas the city is working on to create value. According to him, the city needs to concentrate on developing regional cooperation and improving its workforce. It also needs to strengthen its international infrastructure so that start-up companies can succeed in the global economy.

On the second day, a panel of Austin leaders discussed lessons that the city can provide as a model for technology-based growth. Among the panelists were LBJ School Distinguished Adjunct Professor Bobby R. Inman; Bill Spencer, chairman of the board at Sematech and a participating faculty member at the LBJ School this spring; and Terry Heng, corporate vice president and general manager of the Motorola Global Software Division.

Session and workshop speakers included representatives of the World Bank, NASA's Johnson Space Center, Harvard Business School, MIT, China Torch Program, Shanghai High Tech Park, Russia's Institute of Economy in Transition, National Research Council, Italy, Bechtel International Corporation, and the European Commission.

Other featured speakers included UT Austin President Larry Faulkner, who discussed the role of a traditional university; Rafael Rangel, president of the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), México, who discussed ITESM's virtual campus and a university's role as the driving force of an economy; George Kozmetsky, chairman of the UT Austin IC² Institute Advisory Board, who discussed how knowledge is being applied and developed; and Thomas J. Meredith, senior vice president for Austin-based Dell Computer Corporation, who talked about the role of a collaborative corporation.

The list of session and workshop topics was long and diverse, with participants presenting current research activities. Several LBJ School faculty members participated in this part of the program as session leaders and panelists. Among the group who served as panel cochairs were Professors Chandler Stolp (comparative regional development), David Eaton (sustainable development in the knowledge society), James Galbraith (technology and economic inequality), Kenneth Flamm (internationalization of research and development), and Robert Wilson (innovations in rural development).

Members of the LBJ School community who helped organize the conference included Dean Dorn, Stolp, Ph.D. student Pedro Conceição, and Conferences and Training Director Anneliese Geis.

The conference was sponsored by IC² Institute and the LBJ School as well as other UT Austin colleges and schools, 3M Austin Center, Motorola, MCC, Radian, Japan External Trade Organization, Vinson & Elkins, Gray Carey Ware & Freidenrich, Triton Venture Management, and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Comments to lbjwmast@uts.cc.utexas.edu