Posted on: Wednesday, December 3, 2003

EDITORIAL
High-tech 'dual use' industry big opportunity

For years, the most "high-tech" industry Hawai'i had to offer was the military.

But it was anything but an indigenous industry, although it created plenty of good jobs.

That has now begun to change, and the prospects for Hawai'i are bright if we capitalize properly on the opportunities emerging.

Advertiser Military Writer William Cole reported recently on the rapidly expanding military high-tech presence in the Islands. The federal government is spending millions on cutting-edge science.

And the real news is that this science, not all of which is imported, has civilian applications as well. This is so-called "dual use" technology that is developed for a particular military application but then is commercialized.

It is already happening. Honolulu-based Science & Technology International has developed an imaging program to look for submarines that also is used for reef mapping, cancer detection and other applications.

Opportunities such as these can quickly be lost, however, if we are not ready to seize them when they are presented. It means committing resources and energy into the training and development of people to meet the military's needs, and focusing on the high-tech education of our young people.

The U.S. military is anything but romantic; if it cannot get what it wants here, it will look elsewhere.