Raise the Hammer

I think universities have fully realized where the research dollars come from, and any conflict between "pure" and applied academics is just something they know they need to learn to deal with. Maybe the traditional purpose of universities used to be knowledge, but today that knowledge and research has much more practical application and they've evolved to take advantage of those opportunities. I think it's a logical progression.

I agree about the Florida types. They speak in such grandiose terms, and essentially advocate a silver-bullet approach when you break their case down to its basics. Breeze into town, give an inspiring talk about future possibilities, but then fail to discuss how that picture really fits into the reality of the city's situation. The Knowledge Economy is vast, and it means something different to different places. In our case, we don't need to be the next Silicon Valley. We need to be the next Hamilton, building on traditional strengths with the next wave of innovation and perhaps creating new areas of focus by exploring new ideas. McMaster is solidly tapping into two such streams - materials science, and medical research. Hamilton has a rich history in both areas, and advancing the technology and practice in them is a natural evolution. But either one, alone or together, won't likely be enough to put the city on the boomtown map, definitely not in the short to medium term. There has to be a balance of growth in other sectors, both new and existing ones, to ensure a diverse and strong local economy.

Mac has been doing its part. I'd like to see the city take bigger steps in doing theirs. Are there other Hamilton strengths that are not being grown or re-purposed to advantage? Are there niches we should be looking into, instead of trying to emulate what other places have been doing?

Comment edited by ScreamingViking on 2011-09-07 22:57:01