California is once again No. 3 in a state-by-state biennial ranking of technology-based economic development in the U.S., trailing only Massachusetts and Maryland.
The Milken Institute’s State Technology and Science Index assigns numerical scores, based on 78 indicators, among five composite categories: research and development inputs, risk capital and entrepreneurial infrastructure, human capital investment, technology and science work force, and technology concentration and dynamism.
The top three states and fourth-place finisher Colorado are unchanged from their placing in 2012. Utah rose two spots to take the fifth slot.
California finished no lower than fifth place in four of the five categories. Meanwhile, human capital investment continues to be an area of "relative mediocrity," the report said.
"While California continues to reap the benefits of today’s high-tech companies, it must do more to ensure that the next generation of scientists and engineers are adequately educated. Although the state did improve in Human Capital Investment, rising three spots from last year [2013], it continues to be an area of relative mediocrity," the index’s authors wrote.
California was in second place in human capital investment in 2002, and No. 20 in 2012.
"This could create serious labor issues for the California science and technology sectors in the future," the index said.
Complete rankings and the full report, by Kevin Klowden, Kristen Keough, and Jason Barrett are also available at http://statetechandscience.org/.
