Jones Journal -- Alumni Magazine of the Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University

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Deanna Sheaffer, Editor
Director of Alumni Affairs
Jones School of Management - MS 531 Rice University
P.O. Box 1892
Houston TX 77251-1892
e-mail:JGSalum@rice.edu

The Digital Technology Revolution
– By Chris Neale, Class of 2002

Doreen Stoller (MBA ’91) moderated the panel discussion that took place at Herring Hall.

The Jones School Alumni Association and the Yale Club of Houston co-sponsored a panel discussion on technology-related topics, ranging from the business environment in Houston supporting commercialization of new technology to the effects of the digital revolution on all of our lives.

Ross Pearo (MBA ’00) and Lisa Klein.

The February 20 event featured five speakers of diverse backgrounds, who individually discussed particular aspects of digital technology and collectively participated in a general question and answer period involving the audience.

The first speaker was Bruce Herzog. Herzog is co-CEO of Genesis Park, a Houston-based investment company that focuses on new economy themes. He is a former partner and co-head of the Private Equity Practice Group at Vinson & Elkins. Herzog focused on the great potential Houston has for developing technology-based start up companies. The level of research conducted in the Houston area, especially in the bio-medical and NASA related areas, should provide a rich source of ideas for entrepreneurs to commercialize, he believes. However, Houston has yet to model the success of Silicon Valley or Route 128 in moving research into viable business ventures. Herzog challenged the audience and the industry to better link potential entrepreneurs with the somewhat fragmented venture capital community in Houston.

Left to right: Tony Gorry, Lisa Klein and Doreen Stoller (MBA ‘91).

Next to speak was Dr. S. Ward “Trip” Casscells. Casscells is the chief of cardiology and the Theodore R. and Maureen O’Driscoll Levy Professor of Medicine at UT-Houston Medical School and Hermann Hospital. He is also associate director for basic research for the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. The theme of Casscells’s discussion was similar to Herzog’s. He, too, believes that Houston is a community rich in technology research, but proportionally short in the successful commercialization of these technologies. Casscells discussed the Catch-22 faced by Houston-based start-ups where local funding for new technology has historically been difficult to secure, forcing entrepreneurs to look to the West Coast for support. However, California-based venture capitalists want these new companies to base themselves in Silicon Valley, not in Houston, primarily to minimize travel time while serving on the start-up’s board of directors. He proposed a possible solution — more government funding for technology transfer between the research and business communities, modeled after the Raleigh/Durham research triangle in North Carolina.

The third speaker was Bill Ebanks (MBA ’91). Ebanks is currently director of business development for the Wireless Internet Solutions Group at Compaq. He is responsible for developing wireless data solutions for Compaq’s iPAQ Pocket PC handheld computer. Ebanks discussed how the rapid changes in digital technology have influenced Compaq into moving away from focusing on PC manufacturing and how Compaq is developing its capabilities to supply Internet infrastructure and personal Internet connectivity. He cited the Compaq iPAQ as an example of the convergence of powerful handheld computing and wireless, mobile Internet access.

The next speaker was Lisa Klein, assistant professor at the Jones School. Klein received her MBA ’91 and DBA ’99 from Harvard. Her research focus is on consumer behavior in interactive environments and the impact of the Internet on marketing. Klein discussed how the hard technologies of the Internet infrastructure are maturing, but the informed use of the Internet as a tool for marketing and customer management is still in its infancy. Her research has shown that shopping patterns on the Internet are significantly different than in traditional environments, partly because consumers have control over their interactions. Considerable effort must be focused on creating effective means for retaining, as well as acquiring customers, and measuring how effective these various online marketing channels are in securing sales online and offline.

The last speaker was Tony Gorry, Friedkin Professor of Management and professor of computer science and director for the Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning at Rice University. Gorry received his Ph.D. in computer science from MIT in 1967. His research focus is on information technology to support information acquisition, sharing, and management in collaborative work.

Gorry argued that digital technology is fundamentally changing society and that the current hardships seen by the dot-com sector are only one aspect or influence in this overall societal revolution. Overall focus should be on how digital technology is creating investment and job opportunities, and lifestyles that have never before existed. He also felt that Houston lags behind other important research corridors in commercialization of technology. The historic predominance of oil and gas investment in Houston has built an understanding of the attendant risks and rewards, but the very different set of risks associated with technology funding creates a high degree of caution in the local investment community.
Overall, the panel gave an informative and balanced view of the opportunities in the area of digital technology, from both the local and industry perspectives.