SSTI Digest

Broadband connectivity is foundational for regional competitiveness in the global economy, prompting more states and communities to develop innovative solutions to expand high-quality broadband access for their businesses, residents, education systems and public sector.  Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam provided one of the most recent examples of the trend by signing legislation making it easier for municipalities and cooperative boards to deliver broadband connectivity in underrepresented communities throughout the Volunteer State. Considerable socioeconomic and political challenges remain for communities interested in providing broadband service at the municipal level. Next Century Cities, which represents 169 U.S. cities of all sizes interested in the role of next generation broadband for their communities, recognizes that one of the biggest challenges for increasing broadband speed, affordability, and accessibility are the laws on the books in 20 states limiting or prohibiting local authority to build, own and/or manage broadband networks. A recent survey by Pew Research Center found that seven in 10 Americans support local governments building their own high-speed…

According to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis state personal income data, national per capita income grew 4.0 percent from 2015 to 2016, and growth since 2012 is at 12.0 percent. States are experiencing this growth disparately, however, with five-year growth rates ranging from -0.6 percent (North Dakota) to 17.6 percent (California). Over this period, few states experienced significant changes in their performance relative to their peers — just four states moved more than five rankings — but shifts between income quintiles and variable growth rates suggest that more movement will be witnessed over the next few years. From 2012-2016, state per capita income became distributed less evenly. The difference between the top 10 states and bottom 10 states grew by 9.4 percent to a gap of $13,203 dollars in individual income. This lowest quintile of states actually experienced the highest rate of growth (12.3 percent) over the period and is converging with the income of the next 10 states. Nonetheless, without significant improvements in growth for the lower-income states, the differences between the best and worst states will continue to grow. …

This weekend’s March for Science in Washington, D.C., and another 517 satellite locations across the globe, will be marked with teach-ins and rallies, and will be live-streamed as a virtual march as well. The march is intended to serve as “a call for politicians to implement science based policies, as well as a public celebration of science and the enormous public service it provides in our democracy, our economy, and our daily lives.” This weekend also marks Earth Day, and the U.S. Census Bureau provided some facts pertaining to energy and the environment: There were 1,183 hydroelectric, wind, geothermal, biomass, solar and other electric power generation business establishments in 2014, employing 12,456 people. The wind electric power generation industry generated $5.1 billion in revenues in 2012, the highest among the industries using renewable energy resources.  The estimated number of occupied housing units across the country using solar energy in 2015 as their primary source of heat is 106,737, which is 0.1 percent of all homes. Nearly half (48.2 percent) are primarily heated by utility gas, and 93 percent of all newly-built single-…

U.S. Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Gary Peters (D-MI) sent a letter requesting a 4 percent increase in appropriations for the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Standards and Technology to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The White House announced an executive order to review the H-1B visa program, and the accompanying language suggests the administration’s interest in reforms to emphasize applicant skills and wages.  Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney lifted the federal hiring freeze last week and asked agencies to plan for workforce reductions.

New legislation in Maryland that takes effect in June provides $1 million in workforce development scholarships and builds on current apprenticeship programs, while also providing tax incentives for new and existing manufacturers to create jobs in areas of the state that need them most. Gov. Larry Hogan signed the More Jobs for Marylanders Act into law last week, a key piece of his jobs initiative. The new legislation establishes scholarships for eligible students enrolled in job training programs at community colleges, and contains measures to encourage high schools to offer additional vocational training, as well as requiring state agencies to analyze their registered apprenticeship programs. This builds on current efforts of Maryland’s Employment Advancement Right Now (EARN) workforce training program, which has already provided training for nearly 2,000 unemployed or underemployed workers. New manufacturers in high-unemployment counties would receive a 5.75 percent wage tax credit, a state property tax credit and a sales and use tax credit for up to 10 years, under the plan. The legislation also waives state filing fees, and all incentives are contingent on the…

U.S. companies spent 18 percent of their research and development dollars outside of the United States in 2013, according to data recently released by the NSF. The $73 billion in foreign R&D is concentrated in the information industry, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and automobiles and parts. Those four industries accounted for 52 percent of all foreign R&D performance by U.S. companies, while those same industries were less concentrated in the U.S., representing 45 percent of the total domestic R&D performance. The United Kingdom and Germany are the two countries receiving the largest amount of foreign R&D performance by U.S. companies, with Europe as a whole representing nearly half of the total. The Asia and Pacific region accounted for another 31 percent, with India and China being the two largest locations in the region for foreign R&D performance. Data are from the Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS), cosponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation and by the Census Bureau. if("undefined"==typeof window.datawrapper)window.datawrapper={};window.datawrapper["Zp80P"]={},…

Innovation in the energy sector requires strong leadership from the federal government to help mitigate potential risks, according to a recent report by the American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC), a project of the Bipartisan Policy Center. The AEIC is a group of ten private sector leaders that includes Bill Gates, the heads of industry giants like Dominion Energy and Southern Company, and retired leaders of corporations such as Lockheed Martin and DuPont. Unlike many industries, the energy sector has suffered from an underinvestment in R&D, according to AEIC’s The Power of Innovation report. This has led to considerable challenges not seen in other industries. To spur energy innovation in the energy sector, AEIC recommends building on previous efforts to develop a national energy strategy. They recommend investing $16 billion a year in advanced energy innovation, and funding ARPA-E at anywhere from $300 million to $1 billion per year. Additionally, the authors recommend establishing a New Energy Challenge Program for innovative pilot projects.

While the U.S. remains the global leader in overall R&D spending, China has surpassed the U.S. in later stage technological investments, according to a new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). At its current rate of growth, the authors find that China’s investment in later-stage R&D could double that of the U.S. by 2018. Their analysis suggests that there is significant potential for the U.S to get more out of its R&D by strengthening the relationships between industry and research institutions. In An Innovation-Led Boost for US Manufacturing, authors Hal Sirkin, Justin Rose, and Rahul Choraria from BCG examine the relationship between research and development and economic competitiveness. They find that roughly one-third of U.S. R&D spending focuses on basic and applied research, a much higher share than other industrial economies. China, for example, invests more than 80 percent of its total R&D spending in development researchers, while other nations such as Germany, Japan, South Korea are also aggressively focusing on this component of R&D. Industry experts interviewed for the study cited impediments such as communication…

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Friday that it had reached the congressionally mandated 65,000 visa H-1B cap for FY 2018, just five days after opening the application process. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. This year, petitioners were unable to apply for premium processing, which has been temporarily suspended. USCIS has also received “a sufficient number” of H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap. The Trump administration is strengthening enforcement of the program, and on April 3 announced multiple measures to “further deter and detect H-1B visa fraud and abuse” including “a more targeted approach when making site visits across the country to H-1B petitioners and the worksites of H-1B employees.” In announcing the crackdown on fraud and abuse, USCIS said that the additional measures would help determine whether H-1B dependent employers are evading their obligation to recruit U.S. workers, and are not meant to target nonimmigrant employees. The H-1B program …

While the Department of Commerce (DOC) has incorporated several key practices for enhancing and sustaining interagency collaboration around the Manufacturing USA network, the agency needs to develop a better a governance system that outlines the responsibilities and role of non-sponsoring agencies (e.g. Department of Labor, Department of Education) in the network, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report makes recommendations to DOC with the intent of increasing the involvement of non-sponsoring agencies in helping support the 11 innovation institutes that comprise the Manufacturing USA network. The recommendations include: Revising the Manufacturing USA governance system to ensure the roles and responsibilities for non-sponsoring agencies are fully identified; and, Continuing the steps already taken to standardize measures of progress for the individual institutes and the network. The report also includes information about profiles of each of the existing innovation institutes with information on membership facts and existing technology portfolios. In 2016, the 11 innovation institutes engaged with nearly 780 members…

The federal FY 2018 budget process is well underway, and SSTI members have participated in record numbers to ask Congress to prioritize funding for the Regional Innovation Strategies program. Member organizations, working with SSTI and The Sheridan Group, co-signed 60 appropriations requests to congressional offices and helped to secure 39 signatures on a “Dear Colleague” letter by Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI) and Randy Hultgren (R-IL).

On April 8, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the Excelsior Scholarship program will be included in the state’s FY 2018 budget, after having been approved by the legislature. In its first year, the state will commit $163 million to provide tuition-free options for New Yorkers from ‘middle-class’ families at the state’s public institutions of higher education. Under the Excelsior Scholarship program, students can attend any of the colleges or universities that comprise the State University of New York and the City University of New York systems. After completing their degree, the scholarship requires that recipients must work or live in the state after graduation for the same number of years that they receive support. Cuomo contends that over 75 percent of the state’s 940,000 families with college-aged children would qualify for the program. The program would be phased in over the next three years beginning this fall, as was detailed in an earlier Digest story. Unlike federal grant programs (e.g., Pell Grants) that require only 12 credits per semester, the Excelsior Scholarship program requires that student enroll in college full…