Chasing its potential: though North Carolina's been a high-tech leader for decades, components of the sector must mature to push the state forward.

• Position: TECHNOLOGY ROUND TABLE - Interview

North Carolina long has been a technology leader, with Research Triangle Park its showplace. But the tech sector in the state remains in us maturation process, with startups in particular needing unproved access to capital and, experienced leadership. That was the consensus of a group of experts at a recent round table on the state of technology and its impact on the economy. Participating were John Hardin, executive director of the N. C. Department of Commerce's Office of Science and Technology; Jeffrey Hart of Chapel Hill, chair of the venture-capital practice group at Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson PA; Alexander Macris, CEO of Themis Group inc. in Durham; Brooks Raiford, CEO of the North Carolina Technology Association in Raleigh; Joe Robertson, a senior project manager in the Charlotte office of Balfour Beatty PLC; and Jon Zimmerman, senior vice president of solutions management at the Raleigh office of Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc.; Business North Carolina Publisher Ben Kinney moderated the discussion, held at the offices of the North Carolina Technology Association and sponsored by Balfour Beatty. Following is a transcript, edited for brevity and clarity.

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What is the state of the Tar Heel technology industry?

Hardin: Technology cuts across industries, so the state of technology depends on the type of industry and the locale. Certain regions are doing well: the Research Triangle region; the Piedmont Triad, not so badly. Charlotte has a lot of technology, but a lot was around the banking industry, and that has been hurt.

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Raiford: Almost every company uses technology and has technology functions within it. The state is up 4.5% year-over-year in existing employees in technology and engineering. Our job outlook for tech jobs, after tanking in late '08 and early '09, has seen about seven or eight months of steady uptick this year.

Zimmerman: Technology has a continuing exploding role in society across the board. Facebook is now the third- or fourth-largest nation in the world, right? We'll see a convergence, actually, between gaming, home entertainment and health-care information technology in the not-too-distant future.

Hart: There's a commitment in North Carolina on the public and private sides to commercialize technology that originates in the state. That's in addition to taking note of technology that's being developed outside of the state and trying to commercialize it and bring it here.

What role does technology play in the construction industry, and how is it changing?

Robertson: We have some vertical market divisions within Balfour Beatty. But our mission-critical group, which is focused on the technology side, really spans all markets, whether they're educational or our business-as-usual or banking clients.

How is that group faring?

Robertson: Fortunately, that market didn't take the nosedive that some of the other markets did, to just the commercial upflts and such. Data centers were a need-to-have, not a nice-to-have. For companies to thrive and keep growing, they have to keep upgrading their technology, so we have seen a pretty steady market.

The gaming industry has made some pretty big strides, especially in the Triangle. What's happening with it?

Macris: We recently had the state really start to see the potential that we've got building. We got a tax credit passed that will attract companies. Right now, we're sitting at about 40 companies that work in interactive software, employing about 1,200 at a really high wage level. We've started to collaborate with universities to create degree programs in simulation, modeling, game design.

Hart: You're also starting to see a lot of accelerated programs, or incubator programs, for young companies. One in particular is for gaming. Joystick Labs just opened in the American Tobacco Campus in Durham, which along with LaunchBox relocating to this region shows even...