The tech sector in Washington accounts for 22% of the state economy and ranks first…
Seattle in the Spotlight: May 5 – 11
Silicon Valley North: How America’s Two Tech Hubs are Converging
The Economist | Staff | May 11
“WOULD your region care to be the next Silicon Valley? In most of the world’s technology hubs, local leaders scramble to say ‘yes’. But ask the question in and around Seattle, the other big tech cluster on America’s west coast, and more often than not the answer is ‘no’—followed by explanations of why the city and its surrounds are different from the San Francisco Bay Area. The truth may be more complex: in recent years the Seattle area has become a complement to the valley. Some even argue that the two regions, though 800 miles (1,300km) apart, are becoming one.”
Washington State Saw the Hottest GDP Growth in U.S. Last Year
Seattle Times | Jon Talton | May 11
http://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/state-saw-the-hottest-gdp-growth-in-u-s-last-year/
“Washington ranked high among the states and District of Columbia in growth of gross domestic product last year. State GDP adjusted for inflation here advanced 3.7 percent from 2015 to 2016, ranking No. 1…The information sector was a big contributor to Washington’s growth at 1 percent, by far the biggest jump among the states. Retail trade, transportation and warehousing, health care, and professional, scientific and technical services also stood out in growth. Real estate and non-durable goods manufacturing saw small declines.”
World’s First Light Rail on a Floating Bridge: For I-90, Sound Transit Had to Invent ‘A Brilliant Solution’
Seattle Times | Mike Lindblom | May 11
“Sound Transit will soon try something unprecedented — building and operating train tracks on a floating bridge. The work begins June 3 in the center express lanes of Interstate 90, after carpools, buses and Mercer Island motorists are kicked out to make room for light-rail contractors. Passenger service between Seattle, Bellevue and Overlake is scheduled to begin in 2023…Engineers have to ensure the bridge will remain buoyant when a pair of 300-ton trains pass each other, and that the high-voltage current that powers the trains won’t stray into the bridge’s pontoons and corrode its steel rebar.”
Seattle High School Robotics Team Brings Home World Championship by Beating 400 Other Groups
GeekWire | Kurt Schlosser | May 5
“A robotics team from Seattle’s Ballard High School accomplished what no program from the Pacific Northwest has ever done. The Viking Robotics team took home the world championship at at FIRST Robotics competition last month in Houston. The event April 20-22 featured approximately 400 teams, including groups from Canada, Mexico, Turkey, Israel and China, according to a news release. The 27-member Viking team built its robot during six weeks at the beginning of the year and performed well in competitions at Glacier Peak High School (Snohomish County, Wash.) and Mount Vernon High School (Skagit County, Wash.).”
LinkedIn Co-Founder Reid Hoffman: How Seattle Can Help Silicon Valley Become Less Myopic
GeekWire | Todd Bishop | May 5
“LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman built a technology giant in Silicon Valley, but he has been spending more time in Seattle recently as a startup investor and Microsoft’s newest board member. Hoffman offered his observations about the two tech hubs as part of a wide-ranging talk this afternoon at the Tech Alliance annual luncheon…’Silicon Valley tends to be very myopic — to be focused on one or two things, which has some strengths as well as weaknesses,’ Hoffman said, observing that Microsoft Surface devices and HoloLens headsets tend to be afterthoughts in Silicon Valley compared with Mac laptops and Oculus Rift headsets. But he said he has been impressed by the “depth of tech” in the Seattle region. He explained, ‘I think it would be useful for Seattle and Microsoft to be more in that discussion, and it’s going to be something I’m going to try to help with.’”
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