SSTI Digest

Southern states may have a justifiable reason to be proud of their progress in technology and innovation, but their leaders should be concerned with the lack of investment in venture capital and industrial research and development (R&D), suggests a report released last month by Southern Growth Policies Board and the Southern Technology Council (STC). Measuring the progress of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology-based economic progress in the South, Not Invested Here: The 2004 Southern Innovation Index provides data on 50 benchmarks and offers 10-year targets for each of the Southern Growth member states. As the fourth in a series of reports on innovation in the South and an update to the previous index released in 2002, the report includes updated indicators and analysis of the differences between the updated indicators and their 2002 report counterparts. Southern Growth members - Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia - have made significant and sustained…

The Southern Innovation Index, a strategic plan created with the governments of 13 Southern states and Puerto Rico to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth in the South, has been released by the Southern Growth Policies Board, a bipartisan public policy group based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The index identifies 56 benchmarks and 10-year targets for each of the Southern Growth member states — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico — to track the progress of technology and innovation initiatives in the region. It includes state-by-state data and summaries relative to the publication's primary goals: Creating a culture of learning throughout the South, in which the acquisition, creation and application of knowledge is viewed as central to health, happiness and prosperity; and, Encouraging and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. Several benchmarks and targets included in The Southern…

An historic, five-year reauthorization bill for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) awaits only the President's signature after being approved Tuesday by Congress. President Bush is expected to sign the legislation into law, making the reauthorization of ARC the longest in its history and only the second congressional reauthorization of the agency since the Carter Administration. The reauthorization bill contains several key provisions: Authorizes a new telecommunications program with four main goals: improving affordable access to advanced telecommunications; providing education and training in the use of telecommunications and technology; developing programs to increase the readiness of businesses to engage in electronic commerce; and supporting entrepreneurial opportunities for businesses in the information technology sector. Requires that at least half of ARC’s project dollars go to activities that benefit the Region’s economically distressed counties and areas. Authorizes an entrepreneurship initiative to encourage…

In a bid to make the South a knowledge economy leader, the Southern Growth Policies Board has released Invented Here: Transforming the Southern Economy, a 10-year strategic plan to create an innovation-driven economy in the South.  Southern Growth describes Invented Here as the "first of its kind in that not only does it lay out goals and objectives for an entire region, but it provides a mechanism for tracking the region's progress toward those goals."  Invented Here is built around three goals:  Increasing the perceived value of education in the South;  Harnessing the full potential of innovation; and   Creating and sustaining a quality of life that is attractive to globally competitive businesses and employees.  Each of the goals is supported by objectives and benchmarks that will be used to measure the states' and the region's progress. In all, 13 objectives and 74 benchmarks are identified.  Southern Technology Council and Southern Growth Policies Board staff will…

In an economy driven increasingly by computer literacy and connectivity, leading the nation in the percentage of households not connected to the Internet is a distinction many in the South are working to eliminate. One South, Digitally Divided, the second annual TelecomSouth conference of the Southern Technology Council (STC), and its accompanying report Creating the CyberSouth are efforts in that direction. Creating the CyberSouth, prepared for STC by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, presents a discussion of the implications of the Digital Divide, statistics revealing the extent of the Divide in each of fourteen southern states, and examples of the programs and actions underway in several southern states to address the inequalities. Thirteen of the 14 Southern states were below the national average for the percentage of households with home computers in 1998. Virginia Polytechnic found all of the Southern Growth members are responding in one way or another to the challenge of the Divide. For example, all 13 states and Puerto Rico have been actively working to…

The Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science is providing the Southern Technology Council (STC) $150,000 in matching funds over three years to help Southern states increase innovation-driven economic development. A major element of the initiative is annual benchmarking of each state's progress in agreed-upon categories, including: industrial composition, entrepreneurial development, globalization, and human resources. The three-year program, Invented Here: Towards an Innovation-Driven Southern Economy, is designed to assist Southern states in leveraging scarce resources to build dynamic, sustainable economic growth. Invented Here will help each Southern state in determining where it stands in the innovation-driven economy, developing a strategic plan, and establishing a set of benchmarks for improving its position. Specifically, Invented Here will: Articulate the South's position within the innovation economy; Establish an innovation-driven strategic plan for a sustainable Southern economy; Build consensus within each of the Southern Growth's member states…

Lou Tornatzky has announced that he will be stepping down from his position as Director of the Southern Technology Council (STC), a position he has held since 1993. Tornatzky will be relocating with his family to the West Coast, but will continue to serve as an STC Research Fellow. STC is seeking to fill the position left vacant by Tornatzky's departure. The Director reports to the Executive Director of STC's parent organization, the Southern Growth Policies Board (SGPB). The STC Director has primary responsibility for building the projects and activities of the Council, but also participates in and leads projects of SGPB as well. STC fosters cooperative initiatives among regional science and technology organizations, and functions as a forum for information and recommendations about best practices, strategies, policies, and programs. Fifteen southern states, as well as several corporations and non-profit organizations, have representatives on the 40-person Council. The successful candidate for this position will be an innovative, mission-focused individual with the demonstrated…