UCI in Position to Help Create Future of O.C.
I can’t remember who said it, but this adage has always stuck with me: “The best way to predict the future is to help create it.” So, in approaching the topic of “Orange County 2020,” I’m going to piece together a future for this area on the basis of things that are actually in the works.
The linkage between the current and emerging strengths of UC Irvine and corresponding industry clusters is crucial to the future of the Orange County region. Orange County isn’t Silicon Valley yet, and if we expect it to achieve that stature, we must link the R&D; and educational capabilities of the region’s primary research university with industry groups that are in their early stages of development and have the highest growth potential.
The most important industry clusters in our future are computers, electronics and software, biomedical, and health services. No doubt over the next 25 years there will be a few surprises too, but this list in itself would be sufficient--if pursued vigorously--to solidify Orange County’s economic future. Tourism and entertainment will remain important aspects of the county’s economic portfolio as well, but they are at a mature stage already and depend less on synergism with UC Irvine for their vitality.
What’s happening at UC Irvine right now and how will that contribute to Orange County’s future? There are two major initiatives that deserve mention.
The first of these is the Irvine Biomedical Research Center. This initiative, launched in 1995, will provide physical space for academic and commercial research on a 43-acre parcel adjacent to the College of Medicine on campus. The first building, dedicated to the neurosciences, is due to open this year. UC Irvine already has several centers of excellence in biomedical research, including the UCI Cancer Center, the Beckman Laser Institute and the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, and a strong technology transfer program. The Graduate School of Management (GSM) ACCELERATE program offers assistance to entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial companies focused on technology, thereby providing a support infrastructure for both the university and the community to foster new business development.
In addition to all this, the Irvine Co. has begun the development of a 100-acre R&D; park adjacent to the campus and proximate to the Irvine Biomedical Research Center, and the university recently sold land to accommodate an FDA testing facility on campus.
The other major initiative lies in the area of information technology. Historically, UC Irvine has had a strong presence in computer science, dating back to 1968. Building on the core elements of computer systems and computing algorithms, the Department of Information and Computer Science, along with the schools of Engineering, Social Ecology and GSM, has developed major research and educational thrusts that only recently have been recognized as central to the field. These are in software engineering, the social and managerial implications of information technology, and human-computer interactions. UCI is now poised to become a national leader in “informatics” by consolidating its strengths and providing new educational programs.
It is not enough merely to point out that the ingredients are here to make something significant happen over the next 25 years. Much of significance is already in place as a result of decisions made more than 30 years ago to bring a UC campus to Orange County, to create the city of Irvine around it and, more recently, to develop the Irvine Spectrum. In this case, the vision of a major land development company set the stage for Phase 1 of the Orange County story. Phase 2 is likely to be more complicated.
First and foremost, UC Irvine must play the role that Stanford and MIT have played in the development of Silicon Valley and Route 128, respectively. What does this mean? Rather than distancing itself from the industrial world, UC Irvine must encourage research and consulting for private industry more than it does now.
Second, assuming that happens, local government will need to play a more supportive role than it has in the past. While there are some notable success stories of firms bent on relocation being retained as a result of local government intervention, very few of our existing technology companies are contacted to anticipate a possible relocation decision.
Then there are the obvious things that make any place more “business friendly,” such as lower taxes, easy permitting, etc. Unfortunately, Orange County is in the position of having a very diffuse governmental structure, which makes acting in a coordinated way quite problematic. With business costs that are presently running about 3.5% above the U.S. average, it’s clear that Orange County will not reach its potential absent an aggressive industrial policy on the part of local (and state) government.
