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Pittsburgh Powers Up

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Pittsburgh Powers Up PRODUCED BY SPONSORED BY fDiMagazine THE BUSINESS OF GLOBALISATION Pittsburgh Regional Alliance Photo: DaveDiCello, courtesy of Allegheny Conference PITTSBURGH From steel city to tech titan FORMERLYAN or evidence that thecity of Pittsburgh ducing city –adriving force forindustryand INDUSTRIAL leads thefrontline of new industry, manufacturing around theworld from the look no further than its selection as POWERHOUSE, IN THE F mid-19th centuryonward –global economic thesiteofthe firsteverWhiteHouse Frontiers changeforced Pittsburgh intodramatic 1970s PITTSBURGH Conference in October 2016,ahigh-profile decline before its ultimateturnaround. WENT INTOADECLINE. event focused on building theUS’s capacity Beginning in the1970s, manufacturing THEN DIVERSE LOCAL in science, technology and innovation. plants and steel mills, theengines of the INTERESTS CAME Hostedbythe University of Pittsburgh region’s economyand employment, began TOGETHER TO REBUILD and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the shutting their doors. By 1983, 250,000 people THECITY INTOATECH, conference focused on thecapacity of technol- had leftthe city and theunemployment level ogy to improvelives and createjobs and invest- had reached 18.3%. HEALTHCARE AND ment, exploring fields from healthcare inno- Today, thePittsburgh region (comprising FINANCIAL SERVICES vation, clean energy and theInternet of 10 counties in south-western Pennsylvania) HUB, ENSURING ITS Thingstorobotics, artificial intelligence tells astory of striking resilience, an example SURVIVAL THROUGH and space exploration. of what can happen when adiverse group EDUCATIONAND Speaking at theevent, US president Barack of stakeholders come together to invest INNOVATION. NATASHA Obama called Pittsburgh “a city that has har- their work and inventiveness intoreviving TURAK REPORTS nessed innovation to redefine itself as acentre acommunity. fortechnology,healthcare and education”. It startedinthe 1990s, says Dennis “Pittsburgh has been revitalising itself Yablonsky,CEO of theAllegheny Conference through technology foraverylong time,” on Community Development (ACCD), which said Mr Obama. “That’s howthis city came serves thePittsburgh region. “Ledbythe back afteraniconic industryfell on tougher then-presidentofCMU,literally afew hundred times, doubling down on science, on tech, on leaders –government,business, academic, innovation –all of which can createamazing philanthropic –cametogetherand concluded new jobs and opportunities.” that throughinnovationand collaboration betweeninstitutions, we coulddevelop our From steel to tech clusterofindustriestobeproductiveagain,” Fewplaces embody thephenomenon of a he recalls. comeback city quitelikePittsburgh.Known The region became thethird in theUS historicallyfor its dominance as asteel-pro- to fullyrecover from the2008 recession, its 56 www.fDiIntelligence.com December 2016/January2017 SUPPLEMENT PITTSBURGH unemployment rate is nowbelowthe national have $300m everyyear ingrant making that average, and it is one of thecountry’s fastest goes on here,”adds Mr Yablonsky. growing destinations formillennials. Acombination of academic institutions, Building forthe future privateenterprise, historicphilanthropyand Building on its manufacturing history, new industryinnovators –and aspirit of pull- Pittsburgh is carrying that spirit of creativity ing oneself up by one’s bootstraps –isdue intothe future. It is aventure embodied in credit forthe remarkable renaissance of Pittsburgh 4.0, thecity’s owncontribution to Pittsburgh from former steel towntoone of Industry4.0, so named to describe thenewest theworld’s premier destinations foradvanced industrial revolution toward automation and industries such as cyber security,artificial increased data exchangeinmanufacturing. intelligence and robotics. Google and Uber The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance describes are justafew of themanyblue-chip compa- Pittsburgh 4.0 as thesynergy between manu- nies that have set up operations in thecity facturing prowess, energy,technology and in recent years. innovation –assets thecity aims to utilise to automateand revolutionise manufacturing Asmartecosystem around theworld. The base of Pittsburgh’s power, its business Multinational 3D design, engineering residents say, is its human talent. Annually, and entertainment software corporation 35,000 students graduatefromPittsburgh’s Autodesk, which employs nearly8000 world- 35-collegeuniversity network. Some 50% of wide and has an annual revenue of more than young adults in Pittsburgh have abachelor’s $2.5bn, acquired Pittsburgh start-up Allpoint degree, compared with the national in 2013.Senior manager Aaron Morris, who averageof35%. earned his PhD at CMU,saysthe city has been CMU and theUniversity of Pittsburgh, waiting forits moment to shine again. bothtier-one research institutions and “Asyou cansee, Industry4.0 is thefuture incubators fornumerous start-up companies, of everything: it deals withdata, security and are among thecity’s mostvital assets, interna- all thethings Pittsburgh has been sitting on tionallyreputed fortheir technology and forawhile,”hesays. “Wegot intorobotics in science programmes. And thecity’s wage theearly2000s, we thought it was going to ratesare 95% of thenational average. In bustloose. So we’vebeen waiting along time, Silicon Valley thefigure is about 158% of and nowthis is theworld. You’vegot to have thenational average, according to theUS faith. The world is ready and starting to recog- Bureau of Labor Statistics. nise it, which is whycompanies such as Pittsburgh’s present-dayeconomic Autodesk are able to getinvestment.” foundation lies on five pillars: financial and Forthcoming challenges includeincreas- business services, advanced manufacturing, ingthe millennial retention rate beyond IT,healthcare and lifesciences, and energy. universityand ensuring education keeps “Wehavethis whole knowledge-based pace with changing industrydemands. industry,”saysMrYablonsky.“We went from a Regional players areteaming up with place that was totallydependent on one sector schools and businesses to introduce new –50% of theeconomywas heavy manufactur- career opportunities to young people, from ing –toaneconomythat is very balanced. The CMU’sCyburgh PA Initiative 2016 forcyber largestsector –financial services –now [makes security learning to ShaleNet’s engineering up] 23% [of theeconomy]. It’s very diversified, training forthe natural gasindustry. and all driven by innovation.” When Mr Yablonsky began his ownartifi- Stateand local community leaders have cial intelligence start-up in the1990s, there developed astrong ecosystemtosupportnew were 50 tech companies in theregion. Now companies. The ACCD and the300-member there are 1600, along with500 lifesciences Regional Investors Council work with state- companies and athriving healthcare sector, level players to ensure businesses have what thelargestemployerinthe area. they need to grow and stay in thearea.And a Mr Yablonskyalso highlights thelocal $3bn investment in university,corporateand qualityoflife. Living costs are96% thenational government R&D annuallyunderscores the average, andPittsburgh offers morethan500 region’s commitment to leading innovation. arts and cultural organisations,threeprofes- Thankstothis, Pittsburgh is home to more sionalsportsfranchises, and plentifulgreen than 400 foreign-owned firmsemploying spacefor ahealthy andactive lifestyle. more than 50,000 people. Pittsburghers saythat thesteel made in “Wehaveaunique asset in that we thecity’s mills was exportedto“build the have thesecond highestconcentration of world” in the20thcentury. Those business philanthropic assets in thecountry,”saysMr and trade connections remain, but have now Yablonsky.“There is more than $6bn dollars expanded intonew sectors that define the of philanthropic assets here.” The foundations frontiers of advanced industry. Led by its work leftbyprominent industrialists such as HJ ethic, scientific prowess and history of resil- Heinz, GeorgeWestinghouse and Andrew ience, Pittsburgh’s rich ecosystemishelping Carnegie investsolelyinPittsburgh. “So we lead theUSthrough the21stcentury. ■ December 2016/January2017 www.fDiIntelligence.com 57 Infinity and beyond: William ‘Red’ Whittaker and his planetaryrover protoype Therobot revolution PITTSBURGHISAGLOBALLEADERWHENITCOMES TO ROBOTICS RESEARCHAND DEVELOPMENT, HOSTING NUMEROUSCOMPANIES IN THE FIELD DRAWN TO THE CITY’S RICH INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE, HIGHLYSKILLED WORKFORCE ANDTHE EXPERTISE COMING OUT OF CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY. NATASHATURAK LOOKS AT HOW THE CITY IS BUILDING ON THISREPUTATION here is areason whyinterna- theworld forrobotics, following pilots NASA’s Curiosity on Mars tional transportation network onlyBostonbut ahead of San project; and William ‘Red’ T Uber chose Pittsburgh as the Francisco, Tokyoand Seoul. Whittaker,aprofessor,the insti- launch city forits autonomous vehi- tute’s father,and thefounder of cles lab and thesiteofits firstpublic Arobo-hub thediscipline of field robotics. unveiling of driverless cars. Raffi Robust R&D,abroadarray of private- Since theinstitute’s founding, Krikorian, engineering director publicpartnerships and abundant it has developed unmanned vehicles at Uber’s Advanced Technologies human talent arecountedamong to clean up theinfamous Three Mile Center and theman behind thecom- theresourcesthatmakePittsburgh Island nuclear accident site, it has pany’s driverless revolution, spoke fertile ground forroboticscompa- brought CMU to victoryinthe $2m to fDi at theWhiteHouse Frontiers nies. Some of thecity’s mostpromi- Urban
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