SSTI Digest

The new four-year strategic plan for NASA provides a foundation to return to the moon “for long-term exploration and use” as well as creating a base for “eventual crewed missions to Mars and potentially beyond.” NASA is restructuring the agency to align with the administration’s focus on space exploration. As part of the restructuring addressed in the plan, the former Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) and advanced technology work in the Advanced Exploration Systems program will be merged into a new Exploration Research & Technology organization. Additional restructuring options also are being reviewed, including creating two new exploration-focused mission directorates and eliminating the current Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and STMD structure, or an option to create a single “super” exploration-focused mission directorate by pulling together all the exploration-focused areas in the current HEOMD and STMD organizations. A decision on a new model is expected this spring. While using the International Space Station to evaluate systems and feasibility of future lunar and Martian…

As hearings for the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) begin this week, a report by the “Section 809 Panel” is likely to influence the bill’s acquisition provisions. The panel, authorized by the FY 2016 NDAA, has emphasized efforts the Department of Defense can implement to work better with innovative small businesses, including simplified contracting and strengthening SBIR. Congress proved receptive to the panel’s interim report — acting on all three recommendations in the FY 2018 NDAA — and proposals from the first of three final reports will be discussed as the FY 2019 bill advances. The overarching purpose of the panel is to simplify the defense acquisition process. The panel views the current process as untimely and often overly complicated for small businesses. Both factors result in suboptimal outcomes for the agency, which can ultimately have an impact on missions. A key inefficiency identified by the panel is that Defense has focused its small business contracting on areas not related to mission support, and the panel wants to see more innovations from small businesses directly benefiting warfighters. To…

While nearly all (98 percent) of U.S. public school districts offered career and technical education (CTE) programs in the 2016-17 school year, such programs differed between rural and city districts and faced barriers to participation from both the districts and students. Rural districts are much less likely to have work-based learning activities as a part of their CTE programming, according to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics. The report, based on a 2016-17 survey of career and technical education programs offers a glimpse of the current CTE landscape in the U.S., including data about work-based learning activities and employer involvement in those programs. The data showed that a larger percentage of city districts than rural districts offered CTE programs with work-based learning activities, including student-run enterprises or services (72 percent of city districts compared to 43 percent rural); mentoring by local employers (87 percent compared to 55 percent); on-the-job training, internships, practicums, clinical experiences, or cooperative education (95 percent compared to 68 percent); and apprenticeships or pre-apprenticeship…

After more than a decade of supporting regional economic development efforts, philanthropic communities in Southeastern Michigan and Northeastern Ohio are changing course to focus on economic inclusion and broader prosperity efforts. In the wake of the Great Recession, the Cleveland region’s Fund for Our Economic Future (The Fund) and Metro Detroit’s New Economy Initiative (NEI) became notable examples of philanthropic partnerships that emphasize economic diversification through innovation, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. Both initiatives recently unveiled plans for their next phases. Housed within the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, the New Economy Initiative began in 2007 with support from 12 local and national foundations, such as Kresge and Ford Foundations. For the past 10 years, the initiative has mainly funded programs that support inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship to establish a more diverse regional economy. Since 2007, NEI’s investments have helped launch more than 2,500 companies, which employ 24,610 people in the region and have leveraged more than $1.2 billion in additional capital, according to their…

Startups and small businesses raised $30 million during the first year of equity crowdfunding (also known as regulation crowdfunding or Reg CF) with an average of $289,000 raised in a successful campaign, according to a recent report published by the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy. While equity crowdfunding hasn’t been the game changer that it was touted to be by many of its advocates, several studies indicate that the first year plus shows promising findings for this new source of startup capital authorized by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act).

In February, SSTI highlighted several state-led efforts to address the rural broadband gap, which affects more than 30 percent of rural America who currently lack access to adequate broadband service. The states’ efforts should help revitalize rural communities by aiding small business formation and manufacturers’ expansion, and improve educational achievement/workforce training for local citizens. As some state legislative sessions wrap up, several more governors and state lawmakers have created new initiatives to address this significant issue. Alabama, Colorado and Washington provide the most recent examples of new commitments, including some reversing bans on public broadband provision when the private market fails to deliver.

The European Commission and European Investment Fund announced the creation of VentureEU – a fund-of-fund initiative intended to increase the availability of venture capital for the continent’s startup community. Through the VentureEU effort, the EU will invest approximately €410 million (approximately 507.8 million USD) across six funds run by established European fund managers. The EU has two agreements already in place with the additional four anticipated by the end of 2018. The EU intends for their €410 million investment to leverage approximately €1.7 billion in private and other funds. In total, the EU believes this will infuse approximately €2.1 billion (nearly 2.6 billion USD) in VC funding to increase the size of European VC funds and increase the availability of late-stage capital. PitchBook analysts contend that a lack of late-stage capital and the relatively small size of Europe’s VC funds have created constraints on the potential of the continent’s VC market.  

Low-income students in the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) will be among the first allowed to use federal student aid to enroll in programs offered by nontraditional educational providers. The providers — including coding bootcamps, online courses, and employer organizations — are partnering with accredited colleges or universities through an experimental program called Educational Quality through Innovation Partnerships (EQUIP). The U.S. Department of Education has announced that Brookhaven College is the first program to receive final approval.

Asserting that autonomous vehicles are poised to revolutionize both transportation and the way people live and work throughout the world, KPMG has developed a readiness index that evaluates 20 countries around the world according to four pillars. They include: policy and legislation; technology and innovation; infrastructure; and consumer acceptance. Each pillar is comprised of variables reflecting a wide range of factors impacting AV readiness, from the availability of electric vehicle charging stations, to AV technology R&D, to the regulatory environment and citizens’ acceptance of the technology. The countries with an overall ranking in the top 10 are: The Netherlands Singapore United States Sweden United Kingdom Germany Canada United Arab Emirates New Zealand South Korea Calling the pace of development of AVs “breathtaking,” the report’s authors urge policymakers to consider AVs sooner rather than waiting for full adoption because spatial planning and infrastructure investment decisions made today will determine long-term development. There are also workforce and government revenue implications from the adoption of AV that the authors…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the EPA have each released new four-year strategic plans, continuing to reflect agencies’ adoption of the Trump administration’s policy directions. HHS has a streamlined science agenda that limits explicit connections to regulation while aiming to expand its overall capacity for research. EPA’s new plan is emphasizing science solely in support of legislative requirements and state requests.

New Jersey is considering a state program for free tuition for community college which would be phased in over several years and Virginia is proposing money for a customized workforce recruitment and training incentive program in newly proposed state budgets. Both states have new governors who have revised their predecessors’ budgets, resulting in some additional TBED initiatives in the states. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed FY 2019 budget includes $50 million for tuition-free community college. The plan would provide tuition grants to students with average household incomes below $45,000, with the intention of phasing in more students until community college is free for all students by 2021. A $2.0 million grant program to help school districts offer college-level computer science courses and support, targeting STEM-focused high schools. In his budget message, the governor proposes a student-loan-forgiveness program that rewards those who graduate with a STEM-related degree and get a job in a corresponding field, all while staying in New Jersey. Although the governor also campaigned with this plan, there are no additional details in the budget…

May 1 marks the deadline to choose a school for students considering their college options. A new tool developed by the University of Texas system and the U.S. Census Bureau can give a real sense of what students graduating from that system can expect to earn as well as the average debt graduates carry. The tool, seekUT, reveals the average earnings from each of the majors at the different schools and branch campuses one, five and 10 years after graduation. Where there is sufficient data, the tool shows results for both in-state and national jobs. For instance, perhaps you are curious about an engineering degree. The seekUT tool shows that graduates of UT Austin who majored in chemical engineering are earning a national median salary of $89,893 in their first year, rising to $123,591 in the 10th year. Graduates with that same degree working within the state of Texas are earning a median first-year salary of $79,504 (increasing to $128,865 in year 10). The median loan amount for the chemical engineering UT grads is $24,748. The Census Bureau notes that economic considerations drive a number of college decisions and “given the resources required to attend…