Gates: Use technology to improve education, seize business chances

By Holly Michels of The Montana Standard - 05/01/2007

As the global community shrinks, rural areas like Montana must use technology and improve education to seize business opportunities, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Monday via satellite at the Montana Economic Development Summit in Butte.

His image projected onto four large screens in the Montana Tech gymnasium, Gates told Montanans a strong Internet infrastructure and top universities are stepping stones to becoming a force in the global marketplace.

Gates spoke from Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash.-based office.

“Opportunity for people is now less determined by where they’re located and much more determined by the amount and quality of education they receive,” he said.

With an increasing world reliance on technology, Gates said he is concerned about the decline in college students studying engineering and science.

“The number of graduates See GATES, Back Page Gates ...

Continued from Page A1 going into science and engineering in the U.S. as a whole is not going up. We need to think through what it is (causing this), making it clear the opportunities are there.” The United States reached its role as a global leader through being a forerunner in technological invention and must keep up with competition from China and Korea, Gates said.

“We need to step up to this new level of energy. We need to rededicate ourselves to education.” Scientists and engineers are critical influences in Montana’s economic development, Montana Tech Chancellor Frank Gilmore said in his opening address.

“Five percent of our population are scientists and engineers. That 5 percent drives 50 percent of our gross national product. It’s so critical we continue to produce the high quality people our campus is recognized for.” Gates said the Internet is the new medium to facilitate education, and that Montana’s rural atmosphere is an advantage to providing wireless access.

“In significant parts of Montana it’s not economic to run (fiber optic) fibers into every one of these locations,” he said. “But (with) fiber within five miles of a location you can benefit from low density and enough bandwidth to get a high-speed connection.” Internet access allows students to watch lectures from professors at distant universities, which frees up classroom time for hands-on labs and research, Gates said.

Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates works to fund college-readiness programs and further technology research and development programs.

“The main issues at government level is making sure that the infrastructure is there, the education piece is there. It’s an incredible time to be involved in these things, great that we’re all sitting down and talking about what are the ideas and policies that can help us take advantage of this.” — Reporter Holly Michels may be reached via e-mail at holly.michels@lee.net.