Growing up, I guess I had the impression that West Virginia was advanced in the area of technology. My reason for thinking so? As a kid I learned about the giant radio telescopes at Green Bank. I also lived in Morgantown briefly while the Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system was being built.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory operates the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT), the world’s largest fully steerable single aperture antenna, in Pocahontas County. In some ways, it’s been a mysterious part of West Virginia’s technology landscape. Most of us growing up here really didn’t have much of a clue what interesting things were going on there. Recently the NRAO has made a bigger effort to reach out to the community and more people are realizing what an asset it is to have in the state (despite the hassle of not being able to have cell phone towers and sometimes even minor electronic equipment near the “quiet zone”).
Back in the 70’s, the PRT seemed like a Jetsons-era transportation system. Although it’s a tradition to rag on the efficiency (or lack thereof) of the system if you’re a WVU student waiting for a car to pick you up, it’s really quite a trend-setting achievement. I always took a sense of pride in the PRT since it’s not something you see in surrounding states, or anywhere in the U.S. for that matter.
Later, as an adult, I began to realize that the perception was that technology trends took root in West Virginia long after they did elsewhere. But I’ve always run into techies of all sorts in this state. I remember after taking my first job with Microsoft in 1990 meeting a woman in Huntington who ran a computer shop there. She told me several stories of hanging out with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at the early PC festivals around the country.
What more evidence do we need that West Virginians will embrace technology when it seems practical than the “West Virginia State Flower” (otherwise known as the satellite dish)?
The fact is, I think our desire to embrace technology for practical purposes has been there. I just think that the economics to purchase it has been an inhibitor (although, when you saw some of those giant early satellite dishes of the late 70’s and 80’s set up beside trailers or modest homes, you had to marvel at the sacrifices we West Virginians would make to get our must-have technology).
One of the rare lists in which West Virginia has been consistently ranked #1 is the use of technology in our K12 schools. Education Week has highlighted WV’s efforts to infuse technology into the classroom in practical ways. Much of this legacy of technology excellence in the classroom can be traced to former Governor Caperton’s massive investment in PC’s back in the late 80’s. Today, the State Department of Education has been earning rave reviews for its continued focus on 21st Century Skills.
New tech-based initiatives designed to bring real, practical value to West Virginians include Marshall University’s e-learning programs, which enable rural schools with small budgets and limited specialty teacher resources to offer advanced courses, and an exciting new rural healthcare project that includes a major upgrade of broadband connectivity to facilitate e-health services. The West Virginia High Tech Consortium and the Gilmer-Braxton Technology Research Zone have helped test and move forward initiatives in Wi-MAX technology that will help fill the broadband connectivity gaps that exist in our small towns and valleys and to help first-responder units coordinate their communications.
West Virginians in extreme rural areas or at the lower end of the economic spectrum may still struggle to embrace technology in their home. But that is true wherever you are in America. West Virginians, by and large, are quick to embrace technology when it makes practical and economic sense. Heck, we’re even on the cutting edge of putting robots on a backhoe. How much more practical can you get?
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