technical skills, business process
planning and a sense of innovation
ERIC LUNDQUIST: UP FRONT that can provide immediate results
for your company.
A technology renaissance I hope some of those students
who have abandoned their technol-
ogy education track might rethink
their decisions. If you’re a student
AS WE EXIT THE DARK AGES, SIGNS POINT TO A REBOUND looking for a bigger purpose in life
than creating the next You Tube or
Is there cur- emphasized the crucial nature of Facebook, then being part of an
rently a renais- technology implementation when effort to save your planet is a mighty
sance in he spoke about risk management big challenge.
technology? That as a wise approach to judging tech- Finally, the rise of Web-based
was the question nology success. The risk associated services, the capabilities presented
I was asked to with a Web site—generating mil- by Internet2, and the continued
address first off lions of dollars per hour—going development of mobile comput-at last week’s Ziff down is as great as or greater than ing and mobile devices present a
Davis CIO Sum- making sure all security patches unique opportunity for technology
mit conference. It turned out to be are in place. innovation—a renaissance, if you
a timely question and one worth I’d add another example of will.
answering in this column as well technology’s crucial nature by look- The combination of those tech-as before an audience of CIOs. ing at the recent rash of business nologies will give rise to a new
Asking if we’re now in a renais- acquisitions and divestitures. round of companies that allow for
sance presupposes that the tech The prospective acquisition business opportunities that we
industry has experienced the dark of Dow Jones for $5 billion, the cannot yet envision. These new
ages. If dark ages are marked by divestiture of automaker Chrysler businesses will be as fundamen-some major crash, well, we had and the acquisition of news agency tally world-changing as the great
that at the start of this century. Reuters will all be successes or ideas stemming from the Renais-And if they’re marked by a period failures based largely, I contend, sance that swept through Europe
of uncertainty about the future and on how well new owners transfer from the 14th to 17th centuries.
a search for new and expand They will be international in scope
leaders and new A GOOD ARGUMENT CAN the three com- and will not be driven by the
ideas, I think a BE MADE THAT THE TECH panies’ tech- companies that currently rule the good argument nology under- Internet.
can be made INDUSTRY HAD A DARK AGE. pinnings. Is there a high-tech renaissance
that the tech Development under way? Yes, and it is just
industry did indeed have a dark of the green-computing initia- starting. ´
age. Characterizing this period tive, led in large part by AMD and
was the dot-com crash, the exodus IBM, also exemplifies a high-tech Editorial Director Eric Lundquist can
of students from the technology renaissance. Technology innovation be reached at eric_lundquist@ziffdavis.
education track, and minimal works best when a large challenge com.
product upgrades—from major is involved. That challenge can be
vendors—championed as big-leap as threatening as World War II or
innovations. as startling as the former Soviet
WWEB RESOURCES
So with those days behind the Union’s capability to take the lead
industry, what are the hallmarks of a in the space race: Both events
renaissance? drove the technology cycle for-
An earlier rebirth
Want to read about the first
Renaissance? en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Renaissance
The first hallmark, I’d argue, is ward. The opportunity presented
that technology is seen as crucial by green technology, combined
to a company’s success and that with the threat presented by global new technologies enter the market warming, is a tremendous driver All about Internet2
to make it much easier to imple- for technology advances. The capabilities of networking
ment business strategies. During And, while the task is large, bring- consortium Internet2 www.
the conference, Symantec Chair- ing heating, cooling and electrical internet2.edu/about
man and CEO John Thompson systems into the IT network requires
