SC Decoded 2024 wrapped up a two-day conference on Wednesday, but not before a large crowd was updated about “The A, B, C, and Ds of Technology in South Carolina: Artificial Intelligence, Broadband, Cybersecurity, and Defense.”
More than 200 people attended the annual event, held at the Crowne Plaza, and hosted by the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, to meet with vendors and hear updates on the technology industry that packs a powerful economic punch.
One of the speakers was Joseph Von Nessen, a research economist with the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. He said the latest SC Tech Impact Study shows technology is a $52 billion industry in the state. That represents about 143,000 jobs, which is between 6% and 7% of the state’s employment base overall.
“The biggest changes we’ve seen, particularly in the last three or four years since Covid, is the rapid expansion of tech in South Carolina, and the greater adoption of tech across all industry sectors, including ones that we traditionally think of as low-tech,” he explained for ABD. “Not just industries like it, but also agriculture or leisure and hospitality. These sectors, particularly with the adoption of or the greater adoption of online purchasing activity on behalf of the consumer, have really increased the importance of tech.”
Von Hessen said the impact of the pandemic was twofold. First, it forced people to use the technology that already existed but wasn’t being fully utilized.
“In the second place, we also see the adoption of new technologies and emerging technologies as they are developed, because we see these new professional norms, the need to socially distance, particularly early on, and the desire and a permanent shift towards more online interactions, especially related to retail trade and commerce,” he said.
Von Hessen also believes people have become more receptive, recognize the need to grow technology and how it keeps South Carolina competitive from an economic development perspective.
“In order to do that, we must invest in these new technologies. We have to understand how they’re going to help different industry sectors in South Carolina and make sure that we’re appropriately responding to changes in market demand so that we can boost productivity,” he said. “We can continue to see growth in South Carolina. We want to build on that momentum, and recognizing the evolution of tech and adapting to it and staying ahead of the curve is really going to help us to continue to thrive in the coming decade.”
This year’s event included a demonstration by the South Carolina Competitiveness Council of its robot dog, used in conjunction with Palmetto Automated Learning (PAL). The robot can be used in factories to detect safety hazards on the floor, such as trash or tools, and essentially play fetch, picking up the object and disposing of it.
Previous SC Decoded events have been held in Columbia and Myrtle Beach. Jamie DeMent, Director of Technology & Cybersecurity Initiatives for SC Competes, said the one in Myrtle Beach demonstrated how technology was emerging statewide and the impact it has. Other factors included the collaborative relationship the North Augusta area has with the cyber community in Georgia and work being done at the Savannah River National Laboratory.
SC Competes is a statewide non-profit organization. For more information on the work being done by SC Competes, visit its website: www.sccompetes.org