Cluster Intersections and the Evolution of the Bay Area Bioinformatics Cluster :: essays research papers

Cluster Intersections and the Evolution of the Bay Area Bioinformatics ClusterThe recent founding California-based bioinformatics industry clods is a logical consequence of the intersection of quick local anesthetic Biotechnology, development Technology and Venture Capital meets. The very definition of Bioinformatics the erudition of managing and analyzing biological data using advanced computing techniques, 1 helps to exemplify the nature of this intersection. Research and development for Biotech companies generates volumes of biological data and IT companies provide tools that see in processing this data. It seems only natural that in light of this correlative dependency and given the proximity of existing IT and Biotech clusters a bran-new, specialized Bioinformatics cluster would emerge. In his article, Clusters and the New Economics of Competition, Porter describes the benefits created by the direction and rate of innovation 2 sustained by local competitors in their existing products and technologies. For example, given the already lengthy process of bringing a new pharmaceutical to market, Biotech companies must have realized early on that their ability to stay abreast of competitors was highly dependant on the speed at which they could process massive amounts of genetic information to find therapeutic candidates. Clearly, the internalisation of cutting edge information technologies into Biotech research and development processes was itself a full of life innovation, scarce it was also critical to future innovations within the Biotech industry. Porter would believably argue that the rivalrous pressures of clustered Biotech firms fostered more pressing and rapid internalization of advanced computing into genetic research. The proximity of the knowledge and resources in the IT cluster made it easier to both conceive of these innovations and to access the resources that enabled them. Conversely, innovations in the field of Information Tech nology were stimulated in response to the both the needs of the Biotech cluster, and the urgent clamoring of IT competitors to capitalize on a new market. Porter asserts that vivacious clusters not only stimulate innovation in established companies that that new businesses and new innovations take shape in response to the competitive environment. Start-up firms have a unique opportunity to observe the incumbents in the cluster and conceive of ways to improve existing products or develop complementary color offerings. New firms benefit from an existing local customer base but also may be able to more readily agnise and capitalize on a niche market in the center of many established competitors 3. The Bioinformatics industry appears to have emerged in a convertible manner, filling the gap between the IT and Biotech clusters.