| Regional clusters in knowledge-intensive industries have proven to be powerful engines of economic growth. Countries all over the world have sought to create their own "Silicon Valley". Networks of knowledge are the fuel of such high-technology clusters. This study examines the emergence and evolution of a cluster around wireless communications in San Diego. San Diego, previously known as a "sleepy navy town", now boasts a dynamic startup environment around wireless technology. How did such a regional transformation happen? What type of knowledge is the essence of this emergence, and how did it travel to and within San Diego? What organizations were instrumental in generating and transferring this knowledge? To uncover the region's knowledge networks, I examine two sets of organizational network data: an informal network of career affiliations of entrepreneurs and a formal network of interorganizational alliances and contracts. These data are made sense of by qualitative interviews with San Diego entrepreneurs. The study reveals how knowledge was transferred from military applications to commercial applications: from weapons to cell phones. |
