Tech talk turns to Colorado’s standing

ASPEN — The technology boom and bust of the past half-decade laid the foundation
for a new world economy, one tech entrepreneur said Sunday.

By Janet Forgrieve , Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

"We just went through a speculative bubble, with a huge investment that built enough
infrastructure to build the next step of the economy," said William Coleman, founder,
chairman and chief strategy officer of California-based BEA Systems, which employs
about 250 people in Denver and Boulder.

Technology innovation is moving the economy to an information-based model that will
improve both productivity and quality of life, Coleman told a group of government
officials and business people on Sunday in the Hotel Jerome, at the Aspen Retreat of
the Governor’s Commission on Science and Technology.

Coleman spoke after a panel discussion on the future of Colorado’s biotechnology
industry and before a separate panel focusing on the aerospace industry — both
sectors that have garnered attention since the attacks of Sept. 11 put the spotlight on
technology that can increase security and fight terrorism.

Speakers focused on issues that need to be addressed if Colorado is to become a hub
for both industries.

The University of Colorado ranked eighth among the top 100 U.S. research universities
in terms of the federal money it spent on research in 2000 — $300.4 million that year,
according to the federal government. But, in a separate study by Ernst & Young,
Colorado ranked 43rd in the number of public biotech companies that call the state
home. Colorado claimed only eight or 10 of the 360 companies, said panelist Ralph
Christoffersen, CEO of Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals.

Speakers highlighted the main problem — getting technologies from university labs to
the private sector companies that commercialize them is often too complicated. The
process, known as technology transfer, varies from state to state and university to
university, said Steven C. Peterson, an intellectual property lawyer with Hogan &
Hartson LLP.

"We work with a number of U.S. technology transfer offices, and they all behave
somewhat differently," he said. "CU has a pretty long history of starting and stopping."

Changes are under way at the university to make the process easier to follow, he
said.

"We’re committed to these partnerships, and we need more flexibility when it comes to
merging these partnerships," said James Shore, chancellor of the University of
Colorado Health Sciences Center.

Public-private partnerships were also a hot topic on the aerospace panel, because
much of that sector’s success stems from government spending and because, if
Colorado’s piece of it is to more than double to a projected 232,000 jobs by 2010,
students need to be training now to fill those jobs.

Colorado aerospace companies garnered government contracts worth about $2.2
billion last year, or about $4 billion to $5 billion in annual revenue, said Richard F.
Ambrose, vice president of ground support systems for Lockheed Martin Astronautics.

But for Colorado to continue to compete successfully with other states, it must train the
next generation of workers, said Robert K. "Rocky" Scott, president of the Greater
Colorado Springs Economic Development Corp.

"We need to be getting kids into science and technology careers by using the
excitement of space," Scott said.

One initiative by Gov. Bill Owens is aimed at pulling together public and private sector
aerospace entities and raising the state’s profile in the aerospace sector. Owens
recently announced the formation of the Governor’s Office for Space Advocacy.
Owens said he expects to announce soon the private sector individual who will run
that office.

"Colorado builds all three launch vehicles," he said. "The Delta, the Atlas and the Titan
are all built here, but few people know that."

In another effort to highlight the industry here, as well as to get kids interested, state
Rep. Tim Fritz and state Sen. Ron May announced on Sunday that April 15 will be
"Space Day at the Capitol." Companies, including Boeing and Lockheed Martin, will
demonstrate their technology for the public that day in hopes of generating interest,
especially among the next generation of workers.