| A new way of thinking about development and planning has emerged. This thinking emphasizes the regional relational context and the ability of regional environments to create and sustain the following conditions that characterize dynamic places such as Silicon Valley. (A) Existence of a local milieu/environment that is supportive and involved in creating, expanding, and sustaining production, organizational, and support networks, and their intra- and inter-network linkages; and (B) Existence of cooperative relations between: (1) Companies of specific industries; (2) Companies and their milieu; and (3) Milieu organizations.;In this context, this study evaluated the dynamism of the Pittsburgh economic region as to its ability to develop, sustain, and expand its software industry.;The study posed the following questions: (1) Do local milieu actors relate with each other? If not why not? If yes, how and what are the characteristics and content of their relationships? (2) Do local software companies relate with the local milieu? If not, why not? If yes, how and what are the characteristics and content of their relationship? (3) Do local software companies relate with other local software companies? If not, why not? If yes, how and what are the characteristics and content of their relationship? (4) What has been the local milieu's contribution to the process of creating, sustaining, and expanding the local software network?;Data was collected through secondary research, informant interviews, and survey research. The survey research involved development of two survey instruments administered through mailings and personal interviews to CEOs of software companies and to representatives of the software industry's milieu.;The main method of data analysis was network analysis. This was supplemented with qualitative and descriptive analysis of the local environment.;The study documents the existence of a regional milieu that contains many elements and conditions present in dynamic regions. The analysis though, showed that the above elements are not functionally integrated and that the region lacks the dense and cohesive relational contexts present in dynamic environments. |
