Tech's role in post-Katrina recovery (podcast)
Larry Magid travels to New Orleans just before the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina where he learns about the role technology is playing in the region's recovery.
NEW ORLEANS, La.--Five years ago, following Hurricane Katrina and the resulting floods, much of New Orleans was underwater. But today it's a city in recovery. There are still many scars from the disaster, but there is also a feeling of rebirth.
Technology has played a big role in its path to recovery in the realms of communications, disaster recovery, and now with economic development.
The Louisiana Economic Development reports that "Louisiana's tech industry is among the Top 10 for employment growth" and Louisiana Technology Council president Mark Lewis says that "over the past three or four years, high-tech employment in Louisiana has grown while most states have actually lost employment from a technology standpoint." He added that last year, Louisiana was one of the top three states in terms of technology employment growth.
To learn more about the role technology has played and is playing in the recovery, I sat down with Lewis, Bob Fudickar, Louisiana Economic Development's technology industry director, and Matt Slack, president of AV Solutions, a company that provides technology support for businesses in the region.
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