Bay Area Council Economic Institute and Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation’s Center for California Innovation Awarded a California 100 Grant to Evaluate the Role of Advanced Technology in California’s Future
SAN JOSE, CA (July 19, 2021) – The Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BACEI) and Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation’s (SVLGF) Center for California Innovation announced today that they are the recipient of a research award from California 100, an ambitious statewide initiative to envision and shape the long-term success of the state. The California 100 research award, along with technical assistance from the Institute For The Future, will enable BACEI and SVLGF to evaluate current facts, origins and future trends advanced technology will play in California’s next century. The team’s research will be led by BACEI’s Sean Randolph and SVLGF’s Brian Brennan and will begin this summer.
“The technology industry has cemented its place as a backbone of California’s economy over the past few decades, and it’s clear that it will continue to play a pivotal role for decades to come. Our new research will help identify the underlying trends and public policy issues that will shape the industry’s impact and lay the groundwork for a more prosperous, equitable, and sustainable economy for all Californians. We are excited to be part of the California 100 Initiative as we chart a path forward for California’s next century.”
To sketch out the present and future of advanced technology in California, the SVLGF will marry qualitative and quantitative methods: Beginning with indicators of key inputs (talent, funding) and outputs (economic growth, opportunity), and building on them using interviews with technologists, entrepreneurs and social sector leaders who are themselves protagonists in the state’s technology ecosystem.
The research will be complete by December 2021, and will lead to a set of policy alternatives for the future of California. The policy alternatives will be developed in conjunction with research teams from 12 other issue areas, and will be coordinated by Henry Brady, director of research of the California 100 Initiative and former Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California Berkeley. “We are excited to work with our research partners that are international experts in their issue areas,” Brady noted. “We will not only develop a comprehensive knowledge base on various policy issues, but we will also offer actionable recommendations for the California 100 Commission and the larger public to consider.”
The California 100 Commission is a multi-generational advisory body that will develop recommendations for the state’s future and test those recommendations across a broad set of policy areas by directly engaging Californians. Karthick Ramakrishnan, executive director of the California 100 Initiative, is tasked with assembling and engaging the Commission, and ensuring that the research stream intersects with the initiative’s other activities including advanced technology, policy innovation, and stakeholder engagement.
“From climate change, to aging populations and rapid changes in industry, California will face enormous challenges in the years ahead,” Ramakrishnan noted. “We are fortunate to be able to draw on the deep talent of researchers in California to produce evidence and recommendations that will inform robust public engagement and set the state on a strong, long-term trajectory for success.”
About the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation’s Center for California Innovation
The Center for California Innovation generates and disseminates ideas related to the innovation ecosystem in California that help policymakers and business leaders make decisions in the interests of the Common Good.
About the California 100 Research Grants
California 100 is a new statewide initiative being incubated at the University of California and Stanford University focused on inspiring a vision and strategy for California’s next century that is innovative, sustainable, and equitable. The initiative will harness the talent of a diverse array of leaders through research, policy innovation, advanced technology, and stakeholder engagement. As part of its research stream of work, California 100 is sponsoring 13 research projects focused on the following issue areas:
For more information about California 100, please visit California100.org.