SSTI Digest

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded a five-year, $10 million grant to the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) to create a national center for entrepreneurship engineering. STVP will partner with the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) to develop resources for undergraduate entrepreneurship programs at engineering schools across the country. Read the announcement...

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper unveiled the Colorado Blueprint: A Bottom-up Approach to Economic Development, "a document that responds to outlines the steps that will be taken by the Hickenlooper Administration over the next few years to support and promote economic development across Colorado. "The plan consists of six focus areas and 24 action items to spur the state's economic development. The six areas are:

The diversity and scope of a federal laboratory's mission, congressional support and oversight, and the centralization/decentralization of technology transfer functions at the agency and laboratory levels are among the factors that affect technology transfer and commercialization at federal laboratories, according to a recent report sponsored by the Department of Commerce. Findings are based on literature review and discussions with technology transfer personnel at federal agencies and laboratories.

About 60 percent of U.S. academic R&D spending support research in the life sciences, according to data released by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Engineering R&D, the second largest target of spending, accounted for 15.7 percent of total academic research expenditures. While California leads the country in total spending in every science and engineering field, the District of Columbia leads in per capita spending in life sciences, physical sciences, psychology and social sciences. Other leaders in per capita spending include Maryland (math and computer sciences, and engineering) and Alaska (environmental sciences).

The High Technology Development Corporation, an agency of the State of Hawaii, is responsible for promoting and advancing technology-based economic development in Hawaii. They are currently seeking applicants for two positions:

Lawmakers in several states wrapped up their 2011 sessions in time for the new fiscal year, which begins on July 1 for most states, allocating funds and passing bills in support of tech-based economic development. Read more...

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed Iowa House File 590 into law, establishing a new economic development public-private partnership. The Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress (IPEP) will be comprised of two separate entities — the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Iowa Innovation Corporation. IPEP replaces the embattled Iowa Department of Economic Development. The passage of the bill achieves one of Gov. Brandstad's top campaign priorities to shift the state's economic development efforts away from government and more toward the private sector. The Iowa Business Council (IBC), a nonprofit organization, also released a new report that looks at the Iowa competitive advantage relative to other states over a 10-year period. Researchers found that Iowa has increased only slightly relative competitive advantage since 2001. Read more...

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) has issued a request for public comments on the structure of Economic Visioning Challenge, part of the recently announced Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) initiative (see the 07/13/11 issue for details). EDA will administer the challenge, which will competitively select six cities to receive $1 million grants so that those cities can offer an "X-prize style" competition to develop economic and community development proposals. Read the request...

In a Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas, an 18-member committee comprised of experts in education and scientists proposes a foundation for new national K-12 science education standards. The report identifies core ideas in four areas that students should understand by the time they finish high school. The four areas include:

In an update of their 2009 The Atlantic Century report, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation reports that the U.S. continues to rank fourth in innovation-based competitiveness and second-to-last in innovative progress. Among the 43 nations included in the study, only Italy ranked lower than the U.S. in improving their innovative competitiveness. Certain U.S. regions performed much better than the country as a whole. For example, Massachusetts, if taken as an independent economy, would rank as the most innovative economy in the world. Read the report...

The District of Columbia leads the country in per capita academic R&D expenditures, spending about $543.19 per resident, according to new data released by the National Science Foundation. Maryland follows closely behind with $530.06 per resident, while Massachusetts ranks a distant third with $373.60. While California, New York and Texas lead in total expenditures, smaller states, such as North Dakota, Rhode Island and Hawaii place in the top 10 for per capita spending. Read more...

Lawmakers approved Gov. Tom Corbett's proposal to restructure the state's economic development efforts by consolidating several programs within the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). Total general fund spending for DCED in FY12 is $212.8 million, down from $327.5 million last year or a 35 percent reduction. Much of this is achieved through consolidating programs.