Blog
Comment
Bert22306
Dunno, I have mixed feelings about this sort of effort. It seems like a lot of ...
Silicon Valley Nation: Investing in innovation
Brian Fuller
10/11/2012 6:30 PM EDT
SAN JOSE, Calif.--It is a constant source of irritation and
embarrassment to some that the region consistently ranked among the top
25 wealthiest in the country has a fattening slice of its populace
that is struggling.
One of every 10 Santa Clara and San Mateo County residents relies on the Second Harvest Food Bank for meals today. This is a region home to Intel, Google, Apple, Oracle and Facebook among countless other great technology companies.
[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]
In addition, "There are gaps in education and there are gaps in health," says Kevin Lyman, vice president of human resources at Altera Corp., headquartered here.
Unfortunately, these gaps aren't new, and it's prompting calls for the wealthiest (the way less than 1 percent) to pony up, and many are, including Intel co-founder and big-time philanthropist Gordon Moore.
Companies too, while not in the business of philanthropy, seem to feel a quiet alarm that the next generation of employees isn't going to be prepared.
Today (Oct. 11), Altera's year-old Altera Foundation will give out its first grant as part of a larger--and, Lyman says more strategic--effort to nurture the next generation of innovation. The foundation is granting $500,000 to the nearby Hughes Elementary School to seed a facility that will have whiteboard-type devices in the classrooms and tablets in the hands of the 500 students in the next three years. The grant also will help in teacher training with the new media, and the Altera Foundation has a seat on the advisory board.
Not all companies are great community partners.
"Many companies are highly committed to their communities and others do less than they might," Lyman said.
Altera has always given to the community as a corporation, although as a four-decade-old company just last year seem to finally get serious about it. Why so late? Lyman said: "Unless you're a really big company, you have limited means, and there are many many good causes out there in community. What we've said for ourselves … given our size is to provide focus so we can make the biggest difference in a concentrated."
Educate, then innovate
That resulted in creating the foundation in 2011 to pursue the notion of nurturing the next generation of innovation. And the target for that nurturing is education.
"We think there's a link between innovation and education...if we can teach kids the skills of inquiry and exploration and questions and creation and assessment, particularly in the STEM related areas," Lyman said in an interview.
Clearly in 2012 amid the worst economic downturn since the Depression, government is struggling to meet community needs, parents can buy only so many bake-sale cupcakes and car washes. Companies, sitting on piles of cash in these cautious times are starting to pony up....just in time.
Related stories:
--Silicon Valley Nation: California's slow bleed
One of every 10 Santa Clara and San Mateo County residents relies on the Second Harvest Food Bank for meals today. This is a region home to Intel, Google, Apple, Oracle and Facebook among countless other great technology companies.
[Get a 10% discount on ARM TechCon 2012 conference passes by using promo code EDIT. Click here to learn about the show and register.]
In addition, "There are gaps in education and there are gaps in health," says Kevin Lyman, vice president of human resources at Altera Corp., headquartered here.
Unfortunately, these gaps aren't new, and it's prompting calls for the wealthiest (the way less than 1 percent) to pony up, and many are, including Intel co-founder and big-time philanthropist Gordon Moore.
Companies too, while not in the business of philanthropy, seem to feel a quiet alarm that the next generation of employees isn't going to be prepared.
Today (Oct. 11), Altera's year-old Altera Foundation will give out its first grant as part of a larger--and, Lyman says more strategic--effort to nurture the next generation of innovation. The foundation is granting $500,000 to the nearby Hughes Elementary School to seed a facility that will have whiteboard-type devices in the classrooms and tablets in the hands of the 500 students in the next three years. The grant also will help in teacher training with the new media, and the Altera Foundation has a seat on the advisory board.
Not all companies are great community partners.
"Many companies are highly committed to their communities and others do less than they might," Lyman said.
Altera has always given to the community as a corporation, although as a four-decade-old company just last year seem to finally get serious about it. Why so late? Lyman said: "Unless you're a really big company, you have limited means, and there are many many good causes out there in community. What we've said for ourselves … given our size is to provide focus so we can make the biggest difference in a concentrated."
Educate, then innovate
That resulted in creating the foundation in 2011 to pursue the notion of nurturing the next generation of innovation. And the target for that nurturing is education.
"We think there's a link between innovation and education...if we can teach kids the skills of inquiry and exploration and questions and creation and assessment, particularly in the STEM related areas," Lyman said in an interview.
Clearly in 2012 amid the worst economic downturn since the Depression, government is struggling to meet community needs, parents can buy only so many bake-sale cupcakes and car washes. Companies, sitting on piles of cash in these cautious times are starting to pony up....just in time.
Related stories:
--Silicon Valley Nation: California's slow bleed
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
Bert22306
10/15/2012 5:19 PM EDT
Dunno, I have mixed feelings about this sort of effort. It seems like a lot of window dressing, with PR motivation mostly. The companies move jobs offshore, and then they try to appease the local politicians with this show of benevolence.
If there are exciting jobs in fields we are interested in, then force-feeding "innovation studies" to kids isn't going to be necessary. The politicians should see to it that their tax policies not encourage companies to offshore design and manufacturing, and then no one would be throwing good money out after bad.
Sign in to Reply