Gov. Tony Knowles: A Look to Alaska's Future.

• Author: BONHAM, NICOLE A.

As the light of a new century settles on Alaska's shores, what's in store for the 49th state in 2001? In the following interview with Alaska Business Monthly, the state's top policy maker--Gov. Tony Knowles--addresses the impacts of a potential new pipeline economy, of evolutions in tourism and of technological opportunity on the horizon.

ABM: Many of our Western neighbor states look to high technology as the backbone to their economic future. Colorado, Utah and Washington all trade on their "Suburban Silicon Valley" status. Currently, Colorado is even considering a controversial growth initiative as the explosion in telecom and high-tech jobs flood that state with newcomers.

Though Alaska has gained recognition as among the most wired of U.S. states--and is a major world cargo hub-we don't see the corresponding growth in large technology companies relocating to our state. Why, in your estimation, has Alaska--even with its governmental support of technology training--not captured a spot in that flush market, given technology's clean industry status and high-paying jobs?

Knowles: It's not likely Alaska will duplicate Silicon Valley anytime soon but we have plenty to boast about in the high-technology area. We were recently ranked third behind Washington and Kansas in the 1999/2000 Digital State survey conducted by the Center for Digital Government and the Progress and Freedom Foundation. They were particularly impressed by Alaska's Online Public Notice service and the Alaska Web Mart as examples of practical e-government offerings. The National Association of State Chief Administrators selected Workplace Alaska and the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles Partnership Program for its 1999 Overall Award for Innovation and the DMV program earned an Innovator in Technology award from the Smithsonian Institute and Computerworld Magazine.

Our first priority was to make government more accessible to Alaskans and I think we've done a great job.

We're also focusing on training Alaskans to work in the technology industry. For example, the University of Alaska is working with our international aviation industry to train Alaskans for jobs of the future in international logistics. Since we're on the verge of developing and marketing Alaska's North Slope natural gas, I believe we can become an international cluster of expertise in natural gas. The Alaska Science and Technology Foundation recently approved a pilot project to identify, recruit and place 50 new...