[quote=data549]
Out of curiosity, were you inspired by Alpha Centauri? :)
[/quote]

Heh, I thought he got his idea from the Civ V version they are developing. 

Regarding technology, humans would definitely have a significant interest in developing new weapons technologies to combat the potential invasion of these listeners, but the biggest obstacle in the way of development would be the fact that, by relocating so completely their industrial complex is much smaller now. They have less people, and a lot more of those people are dedicated to more basic tasks.