Brave new silicon island; Hawaii is transforming itself from a plantation- style backwater into a computer driven space station for entrepreneurs- a 'technopolis.' (Special Advertising Section)

Summary

---

Hawaii, once known for its sugar and pineapple plantations, has become a haven for entrepreneurs who want to balance work with play. James Laurel and Richard Chan of Aspect Software Engineering in Honolulu had a difficult time when they first started their company in 1991. In 1994, however, the tides changed for them and all computer-related engineers in Hawaii. The rise of the Internet has practically eliminated the 2,500 mile ocean barrier that Hawaii has always acutely felt. Technology is taking a leading role and making Hawaii's future look very prosperous.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Brave new silicon island; Hawaii is transforming itself from a plantation- style backwater into a computer driven space station for entrepreneurs- a 'technopolis.' (Special Advertising Section)

When James Laurel and Richard Chan founded Aspect Software Engineering in Honolulu four years ago, they faced an ominous wall of resistance toward their customized software development. Hawaii's establishment business community, long dominated by local sugar and pineapple plantation owners as well as mainland resort developers, and just getting a handle on computers, was slow to embrace terms like "client-server software" and PC networking."

"I knew this was the right way to go, so I was pretty optimistic; but businesses would say they just weren't ready for what we were doing," recalls Laurel. "I felt somewhat isolated, because Hawaii was pretty conservative about its IS (information systems) decisions."

Over the years, Hawaii had earned its reputation for resisting new ideas, even as it proved the most welcoming enviro...

See the full content of this document

---