Detroit often gets the short end of the stick; a ton of jokes about the Motor City and its decline populate the Web (for example, the end of the second Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video ends on the upbeat mockery “At least we're not Detroit!”) But as the de facto capital of the American automobile industry, there's still a lot of opportunity in the region—especially once outskirts like Warren or Dearborn get considered—and one of the biggest opportunities in the Detroit area these days is in technology.

A recent report from Automation Alley, an organization with a specific focus on the economic development of southeast Michigan, spelled out some of the numbers, and in many sectors, Detroit almost looks to be experiencing a renaissance of sorts. In a year-over-year comparison, tech employment in metro Detroit is up fully 15 percent. By way of comparison, Silicon Valley's employment lost fully four percent. In raw numbers, Detroit added over 30,000 tech jobs, while Silicon Valley lost 10,000. Metro Detroit schools seem to be following along, having graduated more science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates than even Silicon Valley. Perhaps the most telling statistic, however, is that almost one job in 10 in the metro Detroit area is technology related.

The senior director of business development at Qualcomm (News - Alert), Paul Hedtke, offered up some remarks to help illustrate Detroit's future in the tech sector, noting that the city was experiencing something of a “tech bubble” taking place in the field. Hedtke elaborated, saying, “Many engineers who once worked in the wireless industry are now working in Detroit because car manufacturers have been hiring out of the wireless and the IT industries so they can put these kinds of technologies into the design of their cars.”

So where is this opportunity coming from? It's coming from the coalescence of two key markets: technology and automobiles. Basically, cars are getting increasingly technologically sophisticated, and that means a steadily increasing market for those who can develop technological advantages. Even just looking back at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES (News - Alert)) showed off many of these, ranging from inductive chargers for electric vehicles to automated parking technology. Then there's the automotive holy grail: the self-driving car that's been under development for quite some time, but is starting to make its way to the front. All this development is driving new jobs, and new products.

Admittedly, the numbers produced work from different levels; Silicon Valley's tech sector might best be described as mature, while Detroit's is much more recent. Comparing the two might raise some validity issues, but looking objectively at the growing number of tech sector developments in terms of automobiles—connected cars just for a start, and going on from there—it's clear that automotive tech has quite a bit of room to run. Thus, seeing the Detroit area make some big new hiring numbers isn't out of line, even when compared to a mature market like Silicon Valley.

While only time will tell if Detroit's tech bubble is a sustainable market development or a mere flash in the pan, the idea that it could keep going remains. It could well mean the start of big news not just for the ailing Detroit, but for Michigan itself and potentially beyond. Cars that drive and park automatically would be welcome developments...and that means welcome development for the Motor City.