Q&A talks with Michael Gallis of Gallis & Associates who will be speaking next week at the Connecticut Venture Group’s Crossroads of Ideas and Capital: Vision 2015 in Healthcare, Digital Media and Energy event June 22 at the Yale Law School in New Haven.
Q: You’re the keynote speaker. What’s your basic message going to be? What will you talk focus on?
A: My presentation will be entitled “New England in an Age of Continuous Global Evolution.” I will move through six parts:
1. Review the major findings and recommendations from the “Connecticut: Strategic Economic Framework” that was published in 1999.
2. Overview of what has changed since then in New England and Connecticut.
3. Where is the world today, where is technology policy, and what are the big shifts?
4. What are the big ideas and what does it mean to live in an Age of Continuous Radical Innovation?
5. Where is the U.S. today and where does it fit in and finally
6. How do we position Connecticut, place or connections, and what is a global strategy for innovation?
Q: What are some of your latest ideas on how Connecticut can reposition itself as a world leader in innovation and job growth?
A: Connecticut must become a stronger hub for technology and innovation. This requires an inside game and an outside game. The inside game must focus on the resources we have in the state to complete and the outside game must focus on the resources the world has that are important to us and to which we must develop much stronger connections. In today’s world, nobody has it all; it is a network world defined by continuous interactions across all the parts. The question for Connecticut is ‘what do we have and what do we need to strengthen our role in technology and innovation to build a stronger state economy?’
Q: You also will be talking about challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. What are they for Connecticut?
A: The primary challenge for Connecticut was the problem of the growing isolation of the state as the truck lines of global trade and transportation seemed to be by-passing New England. This remains a serious problem as the rise of China and India with the rest of the global economy has resulted in a consolidation of trade lanes that is pulling more economic activity into the truck line corridors and away from place like New England that are attached but not directly on the corridors. Given these macro scale global changes, Connecticut must develop a strategy to maximize the potential of its location.
Q: Let’s look beyond Connecticut lest you think we’re too provincial. You recently consulted for the National Surface Transportation Revenue and Study Commission for developing the “Big Picture” component of the vision. What is the big picture on surface transportation revenue?
A: It is a very depressing picture. We are now working for the U.S. Chamber on an Infrastructure Index based on transportation, energy, water and broadband. Last year, the U.S. Chamber published the transportation component, the Transportation Performance Index, and it was a sadly depressing picture of inaction and ineptitude. There is little interest in infrastructure in this Congress among either party. It is one of the biggest mistakes this country in making as the rise in global trade and the redistribution of economic activity on a worldwide basis is driving the demand for more, and more efficient infrastructure and the U.S. is asleep at the switch and the global economic freight train goes rushing by.
Q: You’ve also done some work for Charlotte Douglas, San Diego and San Antonio International Airports. Connecticut has long sought to be a true international airport. What would your recommendation be to get us back on track after losing our direct flight to Amsterdam a few years ago?
A: Air service is a direct response to market conditions. There are two international airports near Connecticut — JFK and Boston Logan. JFK is by far the largest and most important, and a short distance away from the state. I should add that I don’t think that we need to always think of only the resources we have within the state, as it is a small state, and resources just across our border can be equally accessible. The problem for air service is that those two airports are in heavily congested areas that can be a real barrier to travelers from Connecticut and while they can provide the service we need, getting there is the problem. This is a perfect example of the growing isolation. The airport is near in miles but far due to congestion and the lack of reliable surface transportation. This is a central issue for the economic future of the state as in the world today there are what we call one-stop cities and two- or three-stop cities defined by how many flight segments that are needed to arrive at you destination. Cities like New York, Los Angles, London, Paris, Tokyo or Beijing and Shanghai are one-stop cities. Connecticut is on the edge between being a one- and two-stop location. The closer it come to being a two-stop destination, the further it gets from the mainstream of global economic growth.
