State to focus its economic resources on high-tech sector. (Maryland)

State economic development officials are working on a plan to encourage federal spending in the state and to develop two high-tech sectors of the economy -- life sciences and information technologies.

Mark Wasserman, secretary of the Department of Economic and Employment Development, told a legislative committee about the plan last week. And although a final report isn't out yet, the department has a broad outline of what it wants to accomplish.

The new plan, called "Bursting the Boundaries," is designed to take advantage of the huge amount of federal spending in the state each year.

The department notes about 20 percent of Maryland's economy is directly …