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To: VidiVici who wrote (41929)	6/10/1999 4:16:00 PM
From: BillyG	Respond to of 50808

Home of steel and digital video systems on a chip??? Pittsburgh to be site of system-on-a-chip initiative A service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted 8 a.m. EST/5 a.m., PST, 6/10/99 PITTSBURGH -- In a greenhouse at the Phipps Conservatory here Wednesday, Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania unveiled the "Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse," a high-tech initiative that has lured Sony Corp. and Oki Electric Industry Co. of Japan and Cadence Design Systems Inc. of San Jose to create next-generation system-on-a-chip (SOC) technology. The project also involves three leading Pennsylvania universities, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Sony, Oki and Cadence will work with the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse to help develop next-generation digital video and digital networking. IBM Corp. will help to design and operate an electronic-business network for the project. Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania State University will provide degree programs in SOC design, with graduates helping to make the next-generation chips. Through the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), the Commonwealth has provided $3.2 million to enable the local economic development agencies in Southwestern Pennsylvania and the universities to design the Greenhouse initiative. Another $10 million could be committed based on the initiative's ability to create 1,500 chip-design jobs in the Pittsburgh region over the next three years. The Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse will announce new partners over the course of the next several months, Gov. Ridge said. It will focus on growing local companies, attracting new businesses to Southwestern Pennsylvania, and assisting startups. It seeks to establish a foothold for Pennsylvania in the "post-PC" era of computing and the electronics industry. "The next boom market in technology will be smart consumer products that impact our lives in ways we can't even imagine," Gov. Ridge said. "This technology will help us make the products we use today faster, cheaper and better tomorrow. We want to grow those products in Pennsylvania. That's what the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse is designed to do." Among the regional assets of Southwestern Pennsylvania are the area's research and development capabilities, which rank fifth in the United States, Gov. Ridge said. Nearly 900 software and information technology companies employ 24,000 people in the region. The universities already graduate 1,100 students each year in the electrical engineering or computer-science fields. Gov. Ridge said the mission is to make Southwestern Pennsylvania a world leader in technology, relying heavily upon an educational program geared specifically to generating graduates in chip design to work in the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse. Sony has one of its largest television-manufacturing facilities in Mount Pleasant, outside of Pittsburgh, where it makes high-definition and large-screen, rear-projection televisions. The Sony Technology Center-Pittsburgh is a vertically integrated television-manufacturing facility employing more than 3,000 people. "Sony, Oki and Cadence are names recognized around the world, with a reputation for excellence," Gov. Ridge said. "These three firms are major players in the growing relationship between Pennsylvania, Japan and the Silicon Valley. Sony already has shown a remarkable commitment to Pennsylvania workers and their families." The Commonwealth also is working with IBM, which will help design, build and operate an advanced e-business infrastructure that will be made available to companies participating in the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse Project. "We are delighted to be working with Pennsylvania to design, build and operate a secure and reliable electronic business infrastructure for this project," said Jay Ennesser, director of worldwide marketing operations for IBM's global electronics industries. "Advanced e-business technologies and services will help make the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse an exceptionally attractive option for electronics firms seeking a competitive advantage in today's networked world."