Hoping to provide the creative spark for a new generation of Island scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs, Gov. Linda Lingle announced a series of initiatives yesterday to promote innovation and help move the state's economy away from land development.

The two-year, $30 million plan includes new school academies that would specialize in science and technology, a state-backed college scholarship program for science-based graduates, state investments in the life sciences, digital media and music, and incentives for workers to save money that can be used to upgrade their job skills and remain competitive as technology evolves.

Taken individually, none of the governor's ideas match the provocative rhetoric last month in her second inauguration speech, in which she vowed to shift the focus of the state's economy from land development. But collectively, her plan stitches together several promising initiatives that could help diversify an economy overly dependent on tourism, land development and the military.

Lingle, at an afternoon news conference at the state Capitol, said the administration would set measurable goals. The administration believes the plan, if approved by the state Legislature and fully implemented, would raise average household income, increase the number of jobs that pay more than $50,000 a year, and substantially reduce the number of students who enter college needing remedial help in math and other basic subjects.

INITIATING DIALOGUE

Lingle said she wanted to start a dialogue on innovation with lawmakers, educators and the business community. While some of her advisers and partners described the plan as bold and even breathtaking, the governor called it a modest investment with the potential to yield big results.

"Innovation is so important because it's the only way, in our opinion, to preserve the quality of life while raising the standard of living," she said. "It's a clear pathway to sustainability."

The plan has been in the works for months, but Lingle was inspired by a visit this month to New Hampshire, where she met with Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway scooter, and attended the opening of his annual school robotics competition. She acknowledged that many of her initiatives have already been tried in some form or have been suggested by state lawmakers in the past, but never in such a comprehensive package.

David Heenan, a Campbell Estate trustee and educator who has written extensively about the need to develop human capital to stay competitive, called the plan "wine out of a new bottle," but still a bold step.

"Let's hope we have the next Bill Gates right here in Hawai'i," Heenan said.

Henk Rogers, who attended the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and was involved with the popular computer game Tetris, said he was lured back to the Islands to start a business because of the state's technology tax credits. He has since sold the company, Blue Lava Wireless, which developed Tetris games for wireless phones, for a reported $137 million and is at work with his staff on other digital products.

"What that tells me is we can do it here in Hawai'i. We don't need to go someplace else," Rogers said.

Lingle's plan has components for education, the economy, workforce development, linking the state to the global economy, and innovation in state government.

Over the next two years, the plan would create academies related to science, technology, engineering and math at 14 public schools statewide. Elementary and middle-school academies would have a problem-solving and project-based curriculum, while high-school academies would have a standards-based science and technology curriculum and would be modeled on existing construction academies. UH would administer the program.

Students who complete the academy programs and plan to study science, technology, engineering or math in college would get tuition scholarships at any public or private school in the state. Parents who save for their children's college tuition would also get a tax deduction — $10,000 for singles; $20,000 for couples filing jointly.

STUDENT BENEFITS

Jonathan Kobayashi, a senior at McKinley High School who is involved in robotics, said it would be valuable to have science and technology programs at more schools. McKinley is one of four high schools — with Waialua, Waiakea and Punahou — who will participate this year in Kamen's robotics competition.

Lingle said yesterday that the state will receive $1 million from NASA to hold a regional event of the competition in Honolulu starting next spring.

"Students learn how engineers think. And that's a very valuable experience," Kobayashi said.

The state, under Lingle's plan, would lease space in a new life sciences and biotechnology research center being privately developed in Kaka'ako. The state's investment would help finance the center, which is near UH's John A. Burns School of Medicine and could serve as a technology incubator. This, she said, is an example of how the state can encourage economic options other than direct land development.

The state also would lease space for a new Digital Media Center that might attract television and film projects that are now being lost to the Mainland. The state also would help finance a new music program being developed at Honolulu Community College in collaboration with Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. The program could be an outlet for local artists or people who want to learn business or production skills.

Lingle also proposed channeling $100 million from the state's retirement system into an innovation fund that would invest in new technology companies, a variation on an idea proposed last session by state House Speaker Calvin Say, D-20th (St. Louis Heights, Palolo Valley, Wilhelmina Rise). Say, who did not plan to offer the bill again this session, had wanted to use general fund money.

REWORKING IDEAS

Lingle also would encourage workers to put aside money in lifetime learning accounts that would be matched by their employers. The money could be used for training and education to help workers keep pace with technological changes. A rapid-response training program would help workers quickly prepare if a new type of industry emerges in the Islands or transition to new jobs if they are laid off when companies leave or shut down, such as the closing of the Del Monte plantation in Kunia.

"All these things tie back to the ability of those of us in Hawai'i to stay here," Lingle said.

State lawmakers also are looking at sustainability as a theme for the session and were open yesterday to hearing more about Lingle's plan.

"What I really like about it is we're talking about ideas that have been out there before," said state Rep. Kyle Yamashita, D-12th (Pukalani, Makawao, Olinda), chairman of the House Economic Development and Business Concerns Committee, who said lawmakers could evaluate whether similar initiatives are working.

State House Vice Speaker Jon Riki Karamatsu, D-41st (Waipahu, Village Park, Waikele), has been wanting to establish an academy as a magnet for gifted and talented students for the past few sessions.

"When you look at innovation, it is highly tied to creativity," he said of the importance of giving students freedom to experiment.

State Sen. Jill Tokuda, D-24th (Kailua, Kane'ohe), has several ideas to integrate workforce development at public schools so students can see different career paths, not only in science and technology but in agriculture and the building trades. "It could be the hook that keeps them in school," she said.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.