Engaging Silicon Valley

Yesterday

For the most part, Silicon Valley was considered more as a curiosity. Database and personal computers are powerful tools, but there had not been much thought on engaging and shaping what Silicon Valley makes.

Today

There is a now a recognition that Silicon Valley is a place full of ideas and technologies that potentially accelerate and open up new venues for the companies willing to make the investment.

With that in mind, increasing number of companies are setting up scouting offices as a way to introduce pieces of Silicon Valley back to the BU and headquarters. Some have also set up venture arms targeting specific aspects of technologies that the mother-ship is interested in but may not have the right expertise.

Tomorrow

I am seeing an increasing number of companies expanding their representative offices into bone fide operation in Silicon Valley. In other words, instead of hosting meetings and visiting other companies, these offices are starting to build concept prototypes and co-develop with other Silicon Valley companies.

The key attraction is that this allows a company a much deeper integration into the Silicon Vally ecosystem as a way to build credibility and gain early insight into developing technology.

Conversely, these design centers also provide Silicon Valley windows into specific challenges that is not readily available locally. For example, automobile companies are exploring how to incorporate the latest in human-machine interface (HMI) into the driving experiences.