Pittsburgh has the people and the know-how to prosper in the new global economy and should not allow fears of worldwide competition to overshadow the future growth potential of southwestern Pennsylvania.

When I was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University during the 1980s and 1990s, and was building a high-tech company Downtown that eventually was bought by IBM, I saw the continuing evolution of world-class talent and entrepreneurial spirit here. Today we are entering an era when advanced technologies, which are among Pittsburgh's clear strengths, are permeating every area of human endeavor.

Public perception often confines technology to a single industry, but the impact is everywhere. In the future, technology will be applied vigorously to solving problems in health care, energy supplies and living standards. As a result, technology will create new possibilities of which we are only beginning to conceive.

Is this region ready to embrace this new world with confidence? The answer is "yes." The Pittsburgh area has a world-class base of research and talent in academia and industry that most regions in the world would envy.

Fifty years ago this month -- before the space race or the computer chip -- Carnegie Mellon began research and education in the field of computer science, laying the foundation for one of the nation's first degree-granting departments. By contributing to technical knowledge and educating future technologists, CMU has not only created one of the world's top universities, but also has helped to build a more diverse economy in its neighborhood. Today nearly 17 percent of the region's work force is employed in technology-related jobs.

Scientific research and technology education continue to serve as barometers for Pittsburgh's future growth. Today research spending by Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pittsburgh and others in the region reaches $1 billion annually. The transfer of technology from research institutions to startups and established companies is ranked among the highest rates in the nation.

The University of Pittsburgh, the area's largest private employer, is noted worldwide for clinical innovations, biomedical research and health-care education. Today it is one of the country's "most wired" medical facilities as it pioneers the use of information technology in patient care, analyzing treatment results and sharing medical research. The increased collaboration between CMU and the University of Pittsburgh, along with the work of the Pittsburgh Technology Council, the Technology Collaborative and others are helping to broaden the local ecosystem of innovation. This close collaboration of academia, government and industry is needed to optimize investments in research and education, and achieve results that will create jobs and lead to a growing economy.

Work in the emerging field of nanotechnology by area Fortune 500 companies, such as Alcoa and U.S. Steel, and the technology council is creating new commercial applications. The region's top-notch assets in robotics are now at work to meet the growing demand for industrial and nonindustrial robots worldwide.

Over the years, research and education, public/private partnerships, entrepreneurs and startups have played major roles in helping southwestern Pennsylvania to realize economic progress and move beyond a manufacturing base. We might not know what will be invented, what innovation will catch on in the market or what new business will succeed. But from past experience we know that spending time and money on research is not a bet; it's an investment for the future.

Today there are encouraging signs that new money and effort will be infused into research through the president's innovation agenda and the continued work of the national Council on Competitiveness, which brings together leaders in industry, universities and labor.

Now is the time for the United States and the Pittsburgh region to expand investments in research, to broaden public/private collaboration in technology and science, to continue educating world-class technologists and to maintain one of the world's most productive work forces. Experience shows that Pittsburgh knows how to do this. The region may face stiff competition, but it is ready and able to seize new opportunities that will offer advantages to this area and to the world.