A few days ago, the Mass Technology Leadership Council
released a “State of Technology” report benchmarking the tech sector’s impact
on the Massachusetts economy – and the story was a positive one. There was data detailing the jobs and wages
created by tech – in that sector, in
businesses technology helped to create (like clean energy and biopharma), in those
industries increasingly enabled by technology (healthcare and financial
services), and finally in those business that support tech companies
(restaurants and delivery services).
There were anecdotes from those who are helping to advance the spirit of
innovation and entrepreneurship that makes the state a “global gateway” for
tech companies. And there were snapshots of the Massachusetts firms creating the broad
spectrum of technologies that are changing our world.
Actually, there some commonalities. The MassTLC report
emphasized the need to business, government and the state’s unmatched academic community
to work together to help tech reach its potential and attract more companies
and create more jobs in Massachusetts. The report
also show us how the state matched up against other tech hot-spots.
The Fortune.com article made an interesting point about some
of the reasons behind the challenge they saw for Massachusetts as the state
battles for tech leadership with other regions: the dearth of local tech reporters.
As a PR professional who has worked with tech media for many
years, I can understand this point. There are
clearly fewer tech publications based here and far fewer reporters assigned to cover
technology. Some of this can be traced
to the media consolidation that is taking place industry-wide.
But as Fortune.com reporter Dan Primack points out:
“TechCrunch
does not have a single Boston-based reporter. Neither does Re/Code, Pando. The
Verge, nor VentureBeat. And the
same goes for more mainstream business outlets like The Wall Street Journal,
Bloomberg or Reuters. As for Fortune, I'm one of just two local
reporters -- and neither of us primarily cover technology.”
There are some bright spots – and in some
cases, the work being done today surpasses what we saw in the boom days for
tech media in the region.
Primack talks about the tech community in
NY benefiting from the concentration of media in the Big Apple, and the
positive buzz in Silicon Valley that results from that region’s “incestuous
tech scene” which includes an unparalleled cluster of technology media.
In his conclusion, Primack suggests that if
more tech reporters return to region, Massachusetts we would see a resurgence
of tech industry activity.
Perhaps that’s true, but I believe that if
the MassTLC report is on the mark – and I think it is – the tech media will
return to the region because of what’s happening in a rejuvenated and
increasing influential and impactful Massachusetts technology community.