Invest in education, Gates tells leaders

By Eric Fetters

Herald Writer

SEATTLE – Bill Gates and Gov. Gary Locke are delivering the same message: Washington needs to pump money into education and research institutions to keep the state near the top in sprouting technology-related companies.

“Many of these things are the hardest to get people thinking of politically, because the investment is today, while the payoff comes tomorrow,” Gates said at the Technology Alliance of Washington’s annual luncheon on Friday.

Locke said he was glad the Legislature was able to keep cuts to education and state-funded research to a minimum in this tough year for the economy. But state officials need to stay focused on investing in those areas and improving competitive conditions for the region’s small start-up firms and big businesses alike, he said.

“We made much progress in a very difficult time, but we have much more to do in order to secure our competitiveness in the future,” Locke said. “We must create a climate in which entrepreneurship is encouraged.”

The message was welcomed by the 1,300 people in the Seattle audience, which included computer and biotechnology industry representatives and elected officials.

The Technology Alliance, started by Gates’ father in 1996, is continuously lobbying in support of better education, more research funding and a boost to the region’s culture for innovation.

Gates, the chairman of Microsoft Corp., also mused on what he sees for computers and how people will use them in the coming years.

One big change: less reliance on keyboards to enter information.

Gates held up a small laptop computer that can be folded to the size of a notebook to allow people to write notes directly on the screen. Technology that allows people to put in information by writing or just speaking will make computers more natural and easy to use, he said.

He also predicted a continued blossoming of digital media and communications.

“If we think of all these improvements, the productivity improvement over the next decade will surpass everything the PC and computers have given us to date,” he said.

Microsoft, which employs nearly 25,000 people in Washington, still performs 80 percent, or $4 billion, of its research and development work in the Puget Sound area. That’s the most spent on research in one place by any company in the world, Gates said.

Collaborations with the University of Washington’s research programs is a key in that work. Gates said that keeping the university a first-class institution should be the state’s top priority.

Locke touted the UW’s role in creating jobs and new companies. More than 50 percent of the state’s biotech and medical device companies started with core technology created at the university and other research facilities in Washington, according to industry studies.

“Technology has been an engine of growth for our economy and a driver of innovation, which has made us better able to compete in the global economy,” the Democratic governor said.

“But many other states around the nation are working to be the next Washington,” he said.

Those include Georgia, Michigan and California, which are investing heavily in higher education and forming clusters of high-tech enterprises around those states’ research institutions.

Many states also have more favorable economic policies to support businesses. Locke called for streamlining permit processes and continuing rural development support, among other things, to assist the state’s companies. Voter approval of the transportation bill on this fall’s ballot also would help, he said.

Gates said he is generally optimistic about Washington’s technology fields, especially if some of the current challenges are addressed. He spoke about his excitement about new developments in biotechnology, in which he sees great potential for new cures to the worst diseases.

“I think with the efforts here, a large part of that will happen in Washington state.”

You can call Herald Writer Eric Fetters at 425-339-3453

or send e-mail to fetters@heraldnet.com.