Co-founder of AOL Steve Case in hunt for the next US tech hub

Washington

SEVENTY years ago, Detroit was the technology capital of the US. Seventy years earlier, at the height of steel's golden age, it was Pittsburgh. During both periods, Steve Case points out, the stretch of California running from San Jose to San Francisco - what we now know as Silicon Valley - was mostly farmland. Its signature export wasn't computer chips or mobile apps. It was prunes.

In other words, the country's innovation landscape shifts over time. Question is, which unlikely city will emerge as the next technology hub?

It could very well be anywhere. Or better yet, Mr Case says, it could be everywhere. "Most of the attention and most of the capital still find its way to places like Silicon Valley and Boston and New York City, but there are great companies and thriving startup communities being built all across the country," said Mr Case, an AOL founder and now the top executive at Revolution Ventures, a talent spotter that invests in early-stage tech comp…