If there was any doubt about the vitality of Kitsap County’s technology community, it was erased Nov. 21, when the West Sound Technology Professionals (WSTPA) presented the Western Washington Summit of Technology and Economic Development Entrepreneurship. The event took place at the Sons of Norway in Poulsbo.

Ken Myer, president of Technology Alliance, a consortium formed by William H. Gates Sr. to study how technology can improve local economies, addressed the group of about 250. He spoke on the issue of how and why the local tech community needs to work with others in the state to promote education, secure funding for research and keep the entrepreneurial fires burning if the state is to compete for tech-based businesses.

Attending the summit was a virtual who’s who of the county’s local economic development, business educational, and political leadership.

Myer stated that state and county technology leaders should have three priorities:

• Improve education, with an emphasis on science and math.
• Promote research at private institutions and public universities.
• Encourage a culture that allows entrepreneurs to succeed by promoting quality of life and improving access to seed money.

   Myer noted that ignoring technology is simply not an option and that Washington is competing with other states — and other countries — to develop technological innovations, and that the most innovative can create good-paying jobs for their communities.

Also addressing the group were County Commissioner Jan Angel, who spoke on how the county’s new $1.5 million Land Information System was just such an example of what Myer would talk about later in the evening.

Developed by Poulsbo’s Paladin Data Systems it integrates property information and will soon be accessible through the Internet, creating a “one-stop shop” for developers and homeowners. “The community development office can track a development from transfer to occupancy permit online,” she said.

The system is also being jointly licensed to other jurisdictions by the county and Paladin, creating income for both.

Poulsbo City Councilman Ed Stern, who has been among the strongest proponents of countywide broadband access and a prime mover in organizing the Telecommunications Committee of the Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council (KREDC), also spoke. He preached seeing the failure of Referendum 51 as an opportunity to force people to shun transportation of physical goods and turn to transporting ideas instead. He also pointed out that there are a large number of local home-based businesses already up and running that depend on high-speed access and that Bainbridge Island and North Kitsap had one of the highest concentrations of demand for broadband services in the nation. He also noted plans by major corporations like Boeing to increase the number of employees that telecommute.

One question posed to summit panelists was how to efficiently provide high-speed access throughout the county — the nagging “last mile” question that has been the focus the KREDC’s telecom committee for the past nine months. Ever since the Kitsap Public Utilities District completed construction of its fiber-optic backbone that runs from Belfair to Port Gamble, this issue has been the main priority of the committee.

The answer is there isn’t any one single company or organization that can solve the problem and that business and home users could connect to this high-speed line by several methods.

The traditional providers, such as Qwest and Sprint are burdened by heavy debts and are reluctant to invest in rural areas when the return on investment is uncertain Governments don’t want to become broadband resellers for a number of reasons — mostly legal.

Mark Rose, president of Olympic TechNet and a presenter at the event, stated that the next step for government officials as well as tech pros should be promoting the benefits of technology’s uses and educating individuals.

He said, “In the past, we’ve been in the construction business. It’s time to show why this is a critical infrastructure. We need to reach out and show how this can help me — one person at a time.”

For more information on WSTPA, visit www.wstpa.org.