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We tried that in Quebec during the mid-90's. The goal was to create a Silicon Valley in Montreal. Then other regions got upset and it was made province-wide. T

We tried that in Quebec during the mid-90's. The goal was to create a Silicon Valley in Montreal. Then other regions got upset and it was made province-wide. Then non-technology entrepreneurs got upset and the definition of "technology" was enlarged to include anything that had a web site. Then the money dried up and we still don't have more world-class technology companies than before. The morale of the story: Silicon Valley is what it is because there is a critical mass of venture capital and world class universities within a small region. That's not something that's easy to replicate in 40K increments.

kjksf 16y ago
The false assumption you're making is that the ambition of the program is to replicate the success of Silicon Valley or that anything short of that is not worthwhile. Chile wins if this program generates positive ROI on the investment, even if it generates only 1% of success of Silicon Valley. Economic stimulation, if done properly, works. I find it amazing that a government initiative makes so much sense and is executed, as far as I can tell, so well, so big props to Chilean government for doing that.
- CodeMage 16y ago
  Given the number of times I've heard the Chilean government talk about establishing a Chilean "Silicon Valley", I think we can all safely assume that's more or less what they're trying to do. As someone who has been living and working in Chile for more than 10 years now, I'm not at all surprised to see them throw money at the issue yet again, instead of working on changing the way things work. But I've already talked about that stuff before: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2068429 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2068429
sebkomianos 16y ago
What's the point in creating "Silicon Valleys" everywhere anyway? You don't need to have a specific area in which technology/innovation/money flourishes. Why not try to promote the "startup spirit" countrywide?
- cabalamat 16y ago
  > What's the point in creating "Silicon Valleys" everywhere anyway? The idea is that if you have a lot of businesses near to each other in the same business sector, you can get synergy between them. the whole is greatrer than the sum of the parts.

kjksf 16y ago

The false assumption you're making is that the ambition of the program is to replicate the success of Silicon Valley or that anything short of that is not worthwhile. Chile wins if this program generates positive ROI on the investment, even if it generates only 1% of success of Silicon Valley. Economic stimulation, if done properly, works. I find it amazing that a government initiative makes so much sense and is executed, as far as I can tell, so well, so big props to Chilean government for doing that.

CodeMage 16y ago
Given the number of times I've heard the Chilean government talk about establishing a Chilean "Silicon Valley", I think we can all safely assume that's more or less what they're trying to do. As someone who has been living and working in Chile for more than 10 years now, I'm not at all surprised to see them throw money at the issue yet again, instead of working on changing the way things work. But I've already talked about that stuff before: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2068429 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2068429

sebkomianos 16y ago

What's the point in creating "Silicon Valleys" everywhere anyway? You don't need to have a specific area in which technology/innovation/money flourishes. Why not try to promote the "startup spirit" countrywide?

cabalamat 16y ago
> What's the point in creating "Silicon Valleys" everywhere anyway? The idea is that if you have a lot of businesses near to each other in the same business sector, you can get synergy between them. the whole is greatrer than the sum of the parts.