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Hawai'i's future requires technology-based growth

By Shelley M. Mark

The West Kaua'i Technology & Visitor Center should be part of a statewide consortium of public and private-sector technology parks. Advertiser library photo

Post-election, it may still be worthwhile to suggest one possibility based on eight years or even more of close observation.

Traveling across our beautiful Islands, one cannot help but visualize many opportunities for development and growth.

Let us just cite some of the island-by-island and statewide programs that we envisage.

First, a world-class technology center, through a statewide consortium of technology parks in a joint public and private-sector endeavor, could put Hawai'i on the map. The components are already there.

For example: on O'ahu, Kaka'ako and the University of Hawai'i's new medical and biotechnology program; on Kaua'i, the West Kaua'i Technology Center; on Maui, the Maui Research and Technology Park, with its supercomputer facilities; on the Big Island, Mauna Kea's extra-global scopes, natural energy laboratory at Keahole and the development of a gateway center for renewable resources and oceanic research and development.

All of this and more can jointly promote Hawai'i as a worldwide technology center — a place of great diversity for research and development, demonstration and commercialization projects.

Second, a major Pacific Basin research center. The Big Island is the most resource-rich and diversified of all our Islands. It also is the home of world-renowned research facilities — the astronomy observatories on Mauna Kea, the ocean thermal energy labs off the Kona coast, the geothermal resource base in the Puna volcano area, and diversified soil and growing conditions for large and small-scale agriculture.

All the elements are here to transform the Big Island into a center of research for the Pacific region.

Third, dual-use technology. The recent state conference on dual-use technology has brought home the lesson that now is the time to expand our partnerships with both federal defense and nondefense programs.

To accelerate the beneficial impact of dual-use technology on our economic growth, we should meet periodically with our congressional delegation to encourage federal input in support of our world-class technology facilities. This could focus on research and development advances in such areas of comparative advantage as ocean science, remote sensing, telemedicine and biotechnology.

For commercialization of cooperative federal-state technology output, a viable approach would be the development of clusters of companies to provide a critical mass for sustained high-tech development.

Developments at the West Kaua'i (Waimea) Technology Center built around the Pacific Missile Range Facility, the Maui High Performance Computer Center, the University Research Park at Hilo, and Kaka'ako Medical and Biotechnology Research Center in Honolulu are clear-cut examples of a dynamic cluster approach.

Fourth, building a technology-based second city at Kapolei. An increasing number of our residents are looking to Kapolei as a place to live and work in a clean, technology-based environment. Building a west O'ahu university campus on 500 acres of available land appears the best means of promoting academic excellence. It could provide tech-based training and develop industry-campus collaboration.

Fifth, revitalizing Honolulu's waterfront. Now that we've decided to build our new medical school campus in Kaka'ako, it is time to engage in a visionary but pragmatic planning and development process along the entire waterfront. There is much economic stimulus and development potential in the reconfiguration of Honolulu Harbor to meet the needs of our harbor, cruise, maritime and fishing industries.

In the Kaka'ako area, an intriguing proposal has been advanced to establish a technology expo pavilion, where major adventures into space, the ocean depths and inner Earth can be highlighted in a virtual learning process.

A Hawaiian Music Hall, featuring both traditional and contemporary music with surrounding arts and crafts, and an amusement center, refined to meet a Polynesian motif and at an appropriate scale — and now a new aquarium — might well suit this environment.

What this whole area, and indeed the entire waterfront, needs is a spectacular architectural symbol, which would signify for all the world Honolulu's civic identity.

Sydney has its opera house promontory, Hong Kong and Manhattan have their high-rise skylines. For Honolulu, we need a majestic element — be it a structural edifice, a promenade, pure greenery, a symbol of peace and aloha — to provide character to the entrance to Honolulu Harbor and the face of our civic center.

For this element, a worldwide competition might be sponsored to bring forth this symbolic identification.

Sixth, moving to a hydrogen-based economy. As we criss-cross our islands, we are struck by the contradiction between our abundance of renewable energy resources and our dependence on imported fuels to meet our energy needs.

Hydrogen fuel cells produced from our vast renewable energy resources can reduce Hawai'i's dependence on fossil fuels, promote higher energy efficiencies and eventually bring down the price of gasoline for our consumers. Specifically, there is need for a comprehensive engineering and market study for the production of hydrogen cells in Hawai'i, using actual cost data from industry.

By coming together in a common purpose — business, labor, academics, communities and government — we can achieve our goals and realize our vision. As we see it, the key is the knowledge we have attained, the technological progress we have made, and our respect for the natural beauty that has made Hawai'i so special.

Shelley M. Mark was director of the state Department of Planning and Economic Development from 1962 to 1974.