California has come storming back from the recession. New jobs have been created at a very fast rate. And these high-tech enterprises are not the vast IBMs of the world. The companies that are pulling California out of recession are small, entrepreneurial, high-tech ventures. These companies and their technologies can be traced directly to the research universities of the State of California.
Digital telecommunications is another case in point.
It could not possibly exist at its current scale and scope without the California research universities that produce the new knowledge and educate the graduate students essential to keeping this industry on the competitive cutting edge. Multimedia, computers, and software are yet other examples. As we consider new growth theory and our recent experience in California, it is crystal clear that research and graduate training will play an increasingly important part in ensuring the economic growth on which our standard of living depends. The University of California is very much focused on its responsibilities to help keep the California economy thriving and productive. We recently held a statewide conference on technology transfer, bringing people from the University together with colleagues in government and the private sector to examine how we can do more to facilitate the transfer of technology.