Life Sciences, Bio-tech Key To Local Turnaround, UTD Professor Says
Life sciences and bio-technology are going to be the major sectors of the economy that will re-build the region's technology industry in the next 10 years, according to University of Texas at Dallas economics professor Don Hicks.
Hicks' forecast was made to a select group of CEOs and presidents during the first MTBC CEO Forum on March 31. He based his remarks on recently completed research titled “Bringing Dallas to Life, Accelerating the Development of a Regional Bio-Economy: Opportunities and Obstacles.”
The key to re-establishing the technology industry will be the ability to link life sciences to technology in ways that are just beginning to be explored, Hicks told the audience. These “bench-to-bedside” opportunities include information flow with integration and wireless connectivity, reliability and safety, hospital “branding,” and “system” transformation.
ICT-Bio driven industries will reshape the economy throughout the world through medical devices and therapeutics, bio-pharmaceuticals and health care delivery. And the key entry points for Dallas are what he called the "Life Sciences Frontiers": clinical engineering, genomics, tissue engineering, molecular imaging, BioMEMS among the varied applications.
Linking technology to bio-sciences is truly a world wide issue, but it will be a major factor to impact the growth of technology in Dallas. Hicks attributed this potential growth to such factors as the leading companies in ICT and health care are based in Dallas. The region is able to couple these leading businesses with one of the nation's leading research institutions in Southwestern Medical and the other hospitals in the region. When the two are linked then North Texas becomes a prime location for the resurgence of technology.
The CEO Forum series, sponsored by Stanton Chase, is an invitation-only program specifically designed for the CEO or president of a technology company. The purpose of the program is to present an opportunity for CEOs/presidents to meet with their peers for a roundtable discussion of ideas, trends and issues relevant to the DFW technology industry.
The March CEO Forum was the first of six such forums scheduled for 2005. Three forums are held in the spring and three forums are held in the fall.
The theme of the 2005 CEO Forum series is "Re-building the Technology Economy in North Texas.”