Staff Picks

"housands of workers have been laid off at the Department of Health and Human Services and now we can include in that the dismantling of HHS' Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. The entire OSDBU staff has been forced out by the agency, except for executive director Shannon Jackson."

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"There’s a lot of brain power in Michigan’s research universities. And there’s even more when they put their heads together.  Three of them — Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University in Detroit — have been collaborating since 2006 in an economic development effort called the University Research Corridor (URC). Now, that research corridor has expanded into the U.P., with the recent addition of Michigan Technological University. "

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"The most common roles that US quantum technology companies are trying to fill range from highly specific, like quantum algorithm developer and error-correction specialist, to much more general, like roles in business, software, and hardware, according to a 2020 survey of 57 US quantum companies by the Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C). Many of the position skills that the surveyed companies listed as necessary were general STEM skills rather than quantum skills. For example, an engineer in quantum control systems must be proficient at circuit and systems testing, control theory, noise measurement, and analysis, none of which are quantum specific. Not surprisingly, jobs that are more closely related to quantum technology necessitate more quantum-specific skills. An error-correction scientist requires knowledge in quantum algorithm development, quantum science, and theoretical mathematics and statistics."

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"If congressional Republicans go through with some of the deep Medicaid cuts they are considering, three states would be left in an especially tight bind. MLH South Dakota, Missouri and Oklahoma have state constitutions requiring that they participate in Medicaid expansion, the part of Obamacare that expanded the health program for the poor to millions of adults. If Republicans choose to make the projected budget reductions by cutting into Medicaid expansion, the other 37 states (and D.C.) that participate in the expansion could stop covering working-class adults. Nine states have laws explicitly requiring them to stop Medicaid expansion or make significant changes if the federal share of spending drops."

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"With artificial intelligence no longer the stuff of science fiction, its benefits and risks are being debated by everyone from casual observers to scholars. A new Pew Research Center report examines the views of two key groups: the American public and experts in the field of AI. These surveys reveal both deep divides and common ground on AI. AI experts are far more positive than the public about AI’s potential, including on jobs. Yet both groups want more personal control of AI and worry about lax government oversight. Still, opinions among experts vary, with men more optimistic about AI than women."

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"The multi-billion-dollar project is slated to develop a long-vacant former steel mill site, with the potential for thousands of jobs. But residents fear further contamination and displacement in a community that’s experienced chronic disinvestment." --CAN

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"If a job is about more than the title or even the pay—but also a chance to find a deeper meaning and sense of purpose—the honorees in the inaugural class of most innovative companies in economic development are chasing a similar ideal, just on a larger scale. These accelerators, city agencies, and public-private partnerships are working to cultivate innovation economies in their regions—and in a sector that often (and understandably) focuses on the headline numbers—jobs created, dollars invested—these honorees did more than just stoke the economic engine; they afforded spaces for new narratives and creative communities." MLH

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"Researchers and tech companies are in a global race to develop quantum computers that can solve hard scientific problems that conventional computers can't, and that they hope can eventually support advances in areas like drug discovery, AI, and cryptography. To learn more about quantum computing and progress in the field, writer Sara Frueh chatted with Mark Horowitz, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and Yahoo! Founders Professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford University. Horowitz chaired a 2019 National Academies report on quantum computing." MLH

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"  While the top minds in artificial intelligence are racing to make the technology think more like humans, researchers at Elon University have asked the opposite question: How will AI change the way humans think? The answer comes with a grim warning: Many tech experts worry that AI will make people worse at skills core to being human, such as empathy and deep thinking. “I fear — for the time being — that while there will be a growing minority benefitting ever more significantly with these tools, most people will continue to give up agency, creativity, decision-making and other vital skills to these still-primitive AIs,” futurist John Smart wrote in an essay submitted for the university’s nearly 300-page report, titled “The Future of Being Human,” which was provided exclusively to CNN ahead of its publication Wednesday." MLH

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"The EU is looking to train more professionals in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to spur new technologies and drive economic growth, but some of the deficit in advanced skills would have to come from abroad, experts say. The European Commission says the EU needs an additional two million professionals in science and engineering. Its new STEM Education Strategic Plan could help plug that gap by encouraging member states to anchor STEM disciplines in national education policy, increase the number of STEM students, and also attract research talent from abroad. Robert-Jan Smits, outgoing president of the executive board at the Technical University of Eindhoven (TU/e) is happy to hear that the Commission is finally acting on this issue. The STEM skills gap hinders innovation in Europe, he told Science|Business, and universities like the TU/e are doing their best to train new STEM students, but it’s very difficult to keep up with the demand. “Even if we would double the numbers of our graduates, it would still not be enough,” he said. " MLH

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"Cities will soon have access to high-resolution 3D maps updated every four to six months, following the development of a new Earth observation satellite system by Marble Visions, a joint venture with NTT DATA, PASCO, and Canon Electronics. The system, expected to launch its first satellite in 2027, aims to improve urban planning, infrastructure maintenance, and disaster response by providing more frequent and detailed geospatial data. Marble Visions, a subsidiary of NTT DATA, was selected in early 2025 for funding from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Space Strategy Fund. The company aims to replace traditional digital elevation models, which are typically updated every one to five years, with a satellite constellation that will provide more frequent updates for urban areas worldwide." MLH

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"Fresh off the global success of DeepSeek’s latest artificial intelligence reasoning model, China’s top economic officials have vowed to set up a state-backed fund to support technological innovation. The “state venture capital guidance fund” will focus on cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology and hydrogen energy storage, Zheng Shanjie, head of China’s state economic planner, told reporters Thursday on the sidelines of the annual gatherings of China’s rubber-stamp national legislature and advisory body. The fund is expected to attract nearly 1 trillion yuan ($138 billion) in capital over 20 years from local governments and the private sector, added Zheng, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission. " DRB

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"The underlying theme of their work: A good idea may have multiple paths to value, but pursuing too many paths at the same time often does more harm than good.  After navigating the four domains of entrepreneurial choice — customers, technology, organization, and competition — entrepreneurs are ready to explore Scott and Stern’s Entrepreneurial Strategy Compass. This framework describes four strategic routes to commercialization categorized along two dimensions: orientation toward incumbents (collaborate versus compete) and focus of investment (execution versus control). " MLH

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"Men heavily outnumber women in several academic disciplines, including physics, engineering and computer science. And while gender gaps in those majors have shrunk at certain selective institutions, they have widened dramatically at many others, according to recent research published in Science. The ratio of men to women in physics, engineering and computer science has surged at institutions where students have relatively low math SAT scores, according to an analysis from New York University researchers. "

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"rganizations are starting to make organizational changes designed to generate future value from gen AI, and large companies are leading the way. The latest McKinsey Global Survey on AI finds that organizations are beginning to take steps that drive bottom-line impact—for example, redesigning workflows as they deploy gen AI and putting senior leaders in critical roles, such as overseeing AI governance. The findings also show that organizations are working to mitigate a growing set of gen-AI-related risks and are hiring for new AI-related roles while they retrain employees to participate in AI deployment. Companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue are changing more quickly than smaller organizations. Overall, the use of AI—that is, gen AI as well as analytical AI—continues to build momentum: More than three-quarters of respondents now say that their organizations use AI in at least one business function. The use of gen AI in particular is rapidly increasing." MLH

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"Injunction allows universities to keep receiving billions to recover costs of supporting federal research on campus"JC

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"If the country is to continue leaning on research universities as the drivers of discovery, innovation, workforce development, and economic competitiveness, a national conversation about the future of these institutions is necessary. Unfortunately, the prevailing methods for comparing universities are insufficient for informing this discussion. Rankings that list universities like sports teams are arbitrarily weighted by the ranker, focused on branding the “best” for an arbitrary consumer and increasing traffic to the ranker’s website. Rankings that list universities like sports teams are arbitrarily weighted by the ranker, focused on branding the “best” for an arbitrary consumer and increasing traffic to the ranker’s website. To catalyze a more data-driven conversation, I developed an analytical framework for understanding the similarities and differences across top US research universities. Using principal component analysis, a technique that combines possibly correlated features (variables) in large datasets into components to visualize the drivers of variance, makes it possible to map universities by the relative influence of over a dozen characteristics shaping them." MLH

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cg

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"Productivity growth has shown a notable pickup since the fourth quarter of 2019, and some commentators cite artificial intelligence and other factors as reasons why technological progress can sustain this faster pace. Motivated by this consideration, we use a model designed to detect trend shifts to examine the behavior of productivity growth in the postwar period. The model allows for shifts between high- and low-growth productivity regimes and estimates the probability of being in one regime or the other. We find that recent data provide tentative support for a higher trend growth rate, with the model estimating about a 40 percent probability that the economy is in a high-growth productivity regime." MLH

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CG

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