In 2001, the focus of our region’s technology community and that of Silicon Valley diverged. Today, this schism may be closing — and that is not necessarily good news.
Twenty-five years ago, the internet was going through its first phase of commercial development, a moment in time people still refer to as the “internet bubble.” And our region was in the middle of it. When the internet bubble burst in 2001, our region returned to its technology roots — government contracting. The aftermath of the terror attacks of 9/11 provided ample entrepreneurial opportunities to serve national security by delivering technology as a professional service.
At that time, Silicon Valley didn’t know how to work with the arcane rules of the FAR or IDIQ contracting. So, entrepreneurs there remained focused on what Silicon Valley did well: technology product innovation facilitated by venture capital.
By 2003 with the emergence of Google, the harbinger of the next technology wave in search and social…
Read the full story from the Washington Business Journal.
