What Makes Silicon Valley Tick? ─ The Ecology of Innovation at Work

Stanford University, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Apple, Sun Microsystems, Cisco, Yahoo!, Google - what makes Silicon Valley such a resilient, powerful hotbed of innovation? An ecology of innovation, where research universities, entrepreneurs, investors, a talented workforce, social and professional networks and the quality of life in the region are all attuned to new thinking, new business, new profit streams.

Well-known economist, educator, speaker and columnist Tapan Munroe shows CEOs, corporate and urban planners, academics, investors, and government and business leaders how the best practices of this "innovative ecosystem" in California can create thriving, world-class high-tech economies elsewhere. Using his ecological model, Munroe examines the vital contributions these seven critical success factors make, driving Silicon Valley’s growth and sustaining it through boom and bust cycles for decades.

Tapan Munroe’s thoughtful, fact-based, lucid style ("I like to make economics simple"), charts and tables, interviews with key Silicon Valley and science park leaders worldwide, and bibliography map out specific, actionable paths for thought- and business leaders. The text amplifies Munroe’s points presented in keynote speeches at the International Association of Science Parks in Spain in September, 2008 and at the Global Internet Congress and the International Technology Forum earlier.

The authors take a probing look at the opportunities and threats Silicon Valley and science parks worldwide face. Advanced computer technology, "cleantech", health care technology, and advances in Web 2.0 mark the current wave of innovation. However, inadequate school systems and the lack of qualified young engineers and scientists, urban congestion and declining quality of life, worker burn-out, and global competition need to be addressed. Munroe helps readers see the whole picture without dazzle or hype, and inspires action for leaders in their own ecologies of innovation.