Office of Technology Policy Releases States’ S&T Indicators

With the goal of assembling “a consistent set of state-level data that approximates the ‘technology infrastructure’ of the states,” the Office of Technology Policy (OTP) has released on the web, The Dynamics of Technology-based Economic Development: State Science and Technology Indicators. OTP, part of the Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, cautions repeatedly throughout the report that no attempt is made or intended to analyze, benchmark, or assess any state’s performance along any of the 37metrics included. Dynamics is meant to serve as a reference guide for policymakers and researchers to use as they develop, implement, and evaluate state science and technology policies and programs. Data has been normalized and ranked for ease of comparison or understanding a state’s relative position, however. 

The 37 metrics are divided among five major groups: funding in-flows (10 indicators); human resources (9); capital investment and business assistance (5); technology intensity of the business base (5); and, outcome measures (8). 

The report, prepared for OTP by Taratec Corporation, is divided into two parts. The first section provides a discussion of each metric with the raw data and rankings for each state, while the second part presents one-page profiles for each state with a graphical presentation of the 37 indicators. 

Print copies of The Dynamics of Technology-based Economic Development: State Science and Technology Indicators are available from OTP. Currently, full copies can be downloaded from: http://www.ta.doc.gov/Reports.htm