How Silicon Valley become an Acknowledged global technology hub

Nowadays, it accommodates the headquarters of numerous of the biggest high-tech companies in the world, including more than seventy Fortune 1000 companies and thousands of intriguing startups. Furthermore, one-third of all venture capital investments in the USA are generated in Silicon Valley.

A Mythology of Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

Silicon Valley, which is located in Santa Clara Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, received its moniker from journalist Don Hoefler in a 1971 column in Electronics Magazine that described the area's growing dominance in the semiconductor industry, for which silicon is a critical element. Leland Stanford, a notable businessman of the 19th century who made his fortune in railroads, purchased an 8,000-acre parcel of land in Santa Clara Valley in 1891, on which he later built Stanford University. Although the semiconductor industry began to emerge in the 1950s, Silicon Valley's success can be traced to Stanford University.

By the turn of the century, when Stanford University was established, the San Francisco Bay Area had seen an infusion of entrepreneurs and nouveaux wealthy who had benefited from.

The Impact of Frederick Terman on the Stanford University Industry and silcon valley as IT HUB

Leadership was also important in the development of Silicon Valley. Frederick Terman was appointed Dean of Engineering at Stanford in 1946. Terman worked to strengthen the university's electronics and innovation programs in order to revitalize the West Coast's electronics industry. Terman established new administrative guidelines for Stanford's research: all sponsored research had to benefit the university's educational mission, be relevant to faculty members' specific interests, and be carried out by both students and faculty. Globally, this development coincided with the end of World War II, which devastated the manufacturing capacity of other advanced economies but left the United States stronger than ever.

During the early 1950s Korean War, the university began to receive significant Department of Defense funding for its work on traveling wave tube (TWT) amplifiers and high-power klystron studies. Companies such as General Electric and Sylvania established microwave tube divisions near the Stanford campus, often hiring Stanford faculty and graduates to staff their facilities. By 1960, Stanford's campus was home to roughly one-third of the country's TWT business. During Terman's tenure as Dean of Engineering, which ended in 1955, Stanford experienced unprecedented growth, which was bolstered by significant federal investments in electronics beginning in the 1950s in response to the Cold War.

Shockley Semiconductor's Demise and Fairchild's Ascension

Countless intellectuals credit Frederick Terman with bringing the fledgling semiconductor industry to what became Silicon Valley. Terman wrote a letter to William Shockley, a pioneer in the development of the first transistors, inviting him to participate in independent transistor research and development near Stanford. Transistors, new "semiconductor" devices that can control or amplify electric signals, began to replace other signal processing technologies at the time, and three of the invention's inventors went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Today, however, many credit Shockley as a key figure in the rise of the West Coast semiconductor industry. Tempted by the prospect of research and

While Fairchild Doped silicon' accomplishment was impressive in and of itself, its greatest contributions were to the surrounding community. Many of its engineers and managers left the company over the years to start start - up companies in the semiconductor industry. Fairchild Semiconductor alone gave birth to over fifty new companies in Silicon Valley in 1980. The ultimate outcome of this gradual exodus is what we now call Silicon Valley. In 1970, the Valley's semiconductor industry employed approximately 12,000 people. Today, the founders and employees of Fairchild can be traced back to approximately 70% of the over 130 Bay Area companies trading on the NASDAQ or NY Stock Exchange.

WHAT TECH GIANTS BEGAN IN SILICON VALLEY ?                                                                                      

There are many tech companies that call Silicon Valley home. Some of the more prominent include:

Hewlett Packard – headquartered in Palo Alton, HP is seen as the birthplace of Silicon Valley. HP is a manufacturer of software and supports businesses with computer services, and is now two distinct companies, Hewlett Packard Enterprises and HP Inc.

IBM – also known as International Business Machines Corporation, IBM transitioned away from computer hardware into industry consulting, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and many other cutting-edge technologies. Say hello to Deep Blue, AlphaGo and Watson.

Apple – headquartered in Cupertino, Apple is a multi-trillion-dollar business that designs, manufactures and sells mobile devices, personal computers, and digital music players. Apple is famous for the iPhone, iPad, iTunes, and Mac computers.

Meta – the world’s largest social networking company with brands like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Founded by Mark Zuckerberg, with billions of users on their many social platforms. These users can stay connected with posts, messages, updates, photos, video sharing and notification updates. Meta has recently entered the Metaverse.

Google (Alphabet) – headquartered in Mountain View, Google is a trillion-dollar business that offers a range of products from search functionality to an Internet browser, word-processing apps that rival Microsoft, and digital marketing across desktop, mobile and video.

Oracle – headquartered in Redwood City, Oracle started life in Santa Clara as Software Development Laboratories, founded by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner, and Ed Oates. Oracle is the industry standard in hardware, software, cloud infrastructure, and cloud applications.

Broadcom – a global infrastructure technology leader that is keeping the silicon in Silicon Valley. Broadcom designs, develops and manufacturers semiconductors and infrastructure software products. Broadcom is headquartered in San Jose and has been innovating for over 50 years.

Cisco – headquartered in San Jose, Cisco is an IT and networking company that specializes in switches, routers, cybersecurity, and the Internet of Things. Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet.

Intel – headquartered in Santa Clara, Intel is a world leader in the design and manufacturing of cloud computing technologies and semiconductor chips. Many computer companies install Intel microprocessors in their personal computers.

Nvidia – based in Santa Clara, Nvidia has been synonymous with PC gaming for decades through their development of integrated circuits. These integrated circuits are used in everything from electronic game consoles to personal computers. Nvidia is also a manufacturer of graphic processing units (GPUs)

Adobe – a computer software company headquartered in San Jose, Adobe offers multimedia and creativity software products for instance PhotoShop, Acrobat Reader and Adobe Creative Cloud. These software products allow individuals and businesses to create graphic designs, edit video, develop the web, and manage photography.

eBay – an ecommerce company focused on connecting buyers and sellers through the use of auctions and direct sales. Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar, eBay is based in San Jose and caters to over 190 markets around the world.

PayPal – PayPal is a payment system that is headquartered in San Jose and is used to transfer money all over the world. The payment system is safe and secure, allowing customers to pay for goods and services online while acting as a middleman between two financial institutions. This status enables PayPal to provide KYC services, payment insurance, and a variety of methods for funding a PayPal account.

The outcomes of Silcon valley on a commercialized technology:

Silicon Valley has been the preeminent worldwide hub for technological innovation of the last several decades. Beyond its role in the history of semiconductor chips and computers, the area has a remarkable concentration of talented individuals, high-tech research universities, corporate R&D laboratories, and the largest concentration of venture capital funding in the nation. Innovators from the region have not only commercialized new, groundbreaking products, but have pioneered entire new industries. The technological advances spawned by Silicon Valley’s brightest minds have played a significant role in furthering the United States’ status as a global technology leader.

Author: Alain NSABIMANA