stay in the area, and so forth. As Bostonians, we tend to take it for granted that we have dozens of top universities and colleges attracting the best young minds and faculty and churning out world-leading advances in science, technology, and business. We shouldn’t. We should be harnessing it even more.
5. In which fields will Boston innovators lead the world?
This theme is obvious and important. Xconomy and others have documented the Boston area’s strengths in many areas such as healthcare, life sciences, energy, robotics, data storage, mobile software, online video, gaming, music technologies, entertainment, and design. Some areas I’ll be watching particularly closely: micro-VC and alternative financing schemes, robotics and artificial intelligence, advanced materials and cleantech, consumer Internet, gaming, and graphics and visualization. Will one of these efforts lead to the next billion-dollar company in New England?
Some of these themes will no doubt evolve; this list is just a start. If you have any thoughts on the above (or other top-of-mind issues in local innovation and its global impact), please drop me a line at [email protected] or leave a comment below. I look forward to meeting you all, and continuing to build relationships with the technology and business community here.
One last personal note: I started writing this piece while I was aboard a JetBlue flight from Seattle to Boston (rather appropriately). The only TV network we couldn’t get on board was ABC, which was showing Game 6 of the NBA Finals (we all know how that turned out). What’s more, the worst crying baby in the history of crying, or babies, was directly behind me during the flight. Maybe he or she knew something I didn’t. In any case, I was so grouchy I couldn’t finish this story.
Now, having had a few days to recover, I can say this: I will always be a die-hard New England fan—for sports, technology, innovation, you name it. We are hardy souls, and we thrive on adversity. So let’s bring it.
