Techno-tour: buckle up and enjoy a quick cruise through the Digital Drive.Digital Drive--the new brand name that ties together all of the technology "hotbeds" in the 10-county Detroit Region--is a story that needs to be told because it affects virtually everyone who does business here. If you're the CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of a Tier 1 automotive supplier in Oakland County's Automation Alley Automation Alley is a technology business association located in Southeast Michigan, U.S.A., primarily in Oakland County. Since its founding in 1999, Automation Alley has expanded to encompass an eight county area that includes business, educational institutions, and government , you're in the Digital Drive. If you're starting up a promising software company in the Ann Arbor IT Zone, you're in the Digital Drive. If you operate a one-person business in one of Detroit's Empowerment Zones, you're in the Digital Drive. In October's issue, the Detroiter examined Digital Drive from a marketing perspective. This month, we turn our attention to what it's all about: technology. Join us for a quick tour of the "six pillars" that help define Digital Drive and highlight what it has to offer in the global marketplace. 1. Technology and innovation The Detroit Region is the automotive capital of the world, and Digital Drive is the intellectual center of the North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. automotive industry. According to a study commissioned by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Digital Drive's role has shifted from production to global leadership in research and development. The stakes are high: The automotive sector spends about $18.4 billion on research and development, more than any other sector of the economy, and 90 percent of U.S. automotive R&D takes place in the Digital Drive. NextEnergy and the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor The Michigan Life Sciences Corridor (MLSC) is a $1 billion biotechnology initiative in the U.S. state of Michigan. It started in 1999 with money from the state's settlement with the tobacco industry. are also in the Digital Drive. Slated to be located at Wayne State University Wayne State University, at Detroit, Mich.; state supported; coeducational; established 1956 as a successor to Wayne Univ. (formed 1934 by a merger of five city colleges). in Detroit, NextEnergy is Michigan's plan to nurture innovation, strengthen collaboration and focus on long-term growth and job creation in the alternative energy industry. Established with $1 billion from the state of Michigan's tobacco settlement, the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor (MLSC) was created to invest in and promote life sciences research and business development over the next 20 years. 2. Venture capital and services Just like plants need water to grow, promising high-tech ventures need money to turn ideas into action. The amount of venture funds under management in Michigan has ballooned from just $111 million in 1996 to $2.4 billion in 2000. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. has awarded $600,000 to two new seed and early stage venture capital funds Venture Capital Funds An investment fund that manages money from investors seeking private equity stakes in small and medium-size enterprises with strong growth potential. Notes: . Arboretum arboretum: see botanical garden. arboretum Place where trees, shrubs, and sometimes herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes. An arboretum may be a collection in its own right or a part of a botanical garden. Venture and Accelero Capital Partners have committed to raising $25 million and $20 million, respectively, to invest in companies in the life sciences and health-care industries. 3. Real estate Digital Drive is a brand name, but it's also a defined geographical area that includes 32 research and technology parks. The 1,100-acre Oakland Technology Park in Auburn Hills is the largest, housing some of the world's most notable high-tech companies. Digital Drive is also home to some big real estate deals. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's $600-million laboratory expansion in Ann Arbor, for example, was one of Site Selection magazine's top 10 deals for 2001. And, of course, the Digital Drive's real estate is wired. The Detroit Region ranks as one of the top 10 fastest-growing wired metropolitan areas in the United States with more than 425,000 miles of electronic information lines or fiber optics fiber optics, transmission of digitized messages or information by light pulses along hair-thin glass fibers. Each fiber is surrounded by a cladding having a high index of refractance so that the light is internally reflected and travels the length of the fiber . LinkMichigan initiative is a plan to make Michigan the most robust U.S. telecommunications market. The plan would give broadband companies special deals in exchange for guaranteed business with government and educational institutions. Digital Drive is also home to SmartZones, which are designated areas in Oakland, Wayne and Washtenaw counties that can capture the growth in property taxes within the zone for use within the zone. And compared to other high-tech regions, real estate in the Digital Drive is very affordable. The lease rate for Class A office space averages $21.21 per square foot in the Digital Drive vs. $39.12 in California's Silicon Valley and $48 in Boston's Route 128 area. 4. Talented workforce The Digital Drive has more engineers per capita [Latin, By the heads or polls.] A term used in the Descent and Distribution of the estate of one who dies without a will. It means to share and share alike according to the number of individuals. than any other region in the world. In fact, we enjoy one of the fastest-growing high-tech employment growth rates Growth Rates The compounded annualized rate of growth of a company's revenues, earnings, dividends, or other figures. Notes: Remember, historically high growth rates don't always mean a high rate of growth looking into the future. in the United States. The Digital Drive has the eighth-highest concentration of certified information technology professionals in the nation, according to Brainbench. Approximately $29 million in training or retraining re·train tr. & intr.v. re·trained, re·train·ing, re·trains To train or undergo training again. re·train grants are awarded in the Digital Drive each year, and Michigan's workforce training programs have been ranked No. 3 in the nation by Expansion Management magazine. 5. Collaboration: As a brand name, Digital Drive is a truly collaborative concept. The Digital Drive "PR Champs" pictured on the cover of this month's Detroiter are working tirelessly to get the message out. Organizations like Oakland County's Automation Alley and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. are firmly behind the marketing effort as is the Detroit Regional Economic Partnership, the economic-development arm of the Detroit Regional Chamber. In fact, Digital Drive is one of the Partnership's No. 1 priorities. "We are now poised to diversify our market to many other areas of technology, such as telematics, alternative energy sources, life sciences and MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) Tiny mechanical devices that are built onto semiconductor chips and are measured in micrometers. In the research labs since the 1980s, MEMS devices began to materialize as commercial products in the mid-1990s. , just to name a few," notes Pam Frauenheim, director of the Partnership's Technology Marketing Program. "The state and the region are focused on expanding these areas with economic-development tools that make it more attractive to do business here, and the Digital Drive brand is a key component of our overall strategy." 6. Quality of life The Digital Drive offers an unparalleled quality of life. Just to name a few of the most prominent cultural attractions, Digital Drive is home to the Detroit Institute of the Arts, the fifth-largest fine arts museum in the United States; the New Detroit Science Center The Detroit Science Center is a science museum located in Midtown Detroit. It features many hands on exhibits and a IMAX Dome theater Founded in 1970 by local businessman Dexter Ferry it the center was originally housed in a storefront. with its newly enhanced IMAX IMAX Noun a film projection process that produces an image ten times larger than standard Dome Theater; the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is located in the Cultural Center of the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1965, it holds the world's largest permanent exhibit on African American culture. ; Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, the most visited indoor/outdoor historical complex in North America; the renovated Detroit Opera House The Detroit Opera House is an opera house located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the venue for all Michigan Opera Theatre productions and other events. The Opera House was designed by C. , home of the Michigan Opera Theater; and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) was founded in 1914. It performed the world's first radio broadcast of a symphonic concert on February 10, 1922 with pianist Artur Schnabel, and became the first nationally broadcast radio orchestra on the Ford Sunday Evening Hour, later Ford under the direction of Neeme Jarvi. Digital Drive on the Web For more information on Digital Drive, visit the newly expanded Website at www.digital drive.org. For an update on technology programs at Digital Drive's educational institutions, read the Detroiter online at www.detroitchamber.com, Click "Detroiter" on our home page and go to: "Technology education in the Digital Drive." And while you're there, also check out: "Digital Drive: Questions and Answers." What is Digital Drive? It's a virtual highway of new and established centers of innovation--spanning businesses, universities, associations and governments--that runs throughout the 10 counties of Southeast Michigan. Digital Drive is a brand. It is not an institution, nor does it replace any existing organization or association. Melissa Armstrong is senior director of Research & Information at the Detroit Regional Chamber. |
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