SSTI Digest

Among this year’s most talked about books on economic development is Richard Florida’s The New Urban Crisis. This commentary provides a brief overview of Florida’s book, a response to his conclusions, and insight into what the crisis may mean for economic development practitioners more broadly. 

Florida, well known for his theories on the creative class, has long advocated that the competitiveness of cities depends on their ability to embrace innovation and attract the knowledge workers essential to the 21st century economy. To do so, the author has recommended that cities and regions focus on three things: technology, talent, and tolerance.

In his new book, Florida suggests that the impact of these recommendations has had both positive and negative effects. While the clustering of talent and innovation is now the basic engine of economic growth, it has led to deep divides within our society, Florida notes. These divides are at the root of The New Urban Crisis, which the author outlines with five dimensions:

As the relationship between technology and work continues to evolve, concerns abound, including its effects on jobs, education and business. The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine took a deeper look at the relationship and its impact, convening an expert committee to delve into the topic and set forth a research agenda. The resulting report, Information Technology and the U.S. Workforce: Where Are We and Where Do We Go from Here, explores the current state, trends, and possible futures of technology and work, as well as the possible implications for education, privacy, security and even democracy.

Here at SSTI, we receive requests from time-to-time from members looking to better understand their regional economy through data. Though the federal government has long been the largest provider of publicly available data, the mechanisms to explore it have been unwieldy. Now more than ever, users have options for interactive resources to explore government data and help inform decision making around economic development. This Digest article highlights many of the free tools and databases that are available.

Innovation Index 2.0: StatsAmerica, a project of the Indiana Business Research Center funded with support from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, operates this index for economic development practitioners to use in strategic planning, site requests, developing metrics, and grant writing. The recently updated index includes more than 50 new measures.

The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) held its national meeting this week, and the emphasis of many conversations around the conference site in San Antonio was how labs can implement new partnerships to yield greater tech transfer successes. This topic was core to a new training course at the conference led by Crane's John Dement, and at which SSTI VP Mark Skinner presented, as well as during the meeting’s Industry Day. Partnerships were also a clear factor in several of FLC’s awards, including those for a NASA technology supported by the University of Central Florida, a Sandia Labs partnership with the state of New Jersey on a post-Superstorm Sandy microgrid project, and an individual award to Elizabeth Brooke Pyne that specifically cited her role in developing a Lilly Endowment-funded collaboration between Crane and Indiana universities. SSTI is also currently working with two of the FLC regions to produce reports on opportunities for new lab partnerships to promote innovation and tech transfer.

In a report released this week, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the 11 agencies participating in the Small Business Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs have varied in their implementation of fraud, waste and abuse prevention requirements. The ten requirements were put in place as part of the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011, following a 2009 congressional hearing regarding fraud in the programs. The extent to which the agencies have implemented the requirements varies – all 11 agencies have fully implemented two of the requirements and more than half have fully implemented another six. Officials from nine agencies indicated they have gone beyond the minimum requirements. However, officials from the Small Business Administration, which developed the requirements, said they had not confirmed with all agencies that all the requirements had been implemented. Similarly, Offices of Inspectors General (OIG) varied in their implementation of the requirements which had been assigned to them, with the military services branches failing to implement them.

U.S. clusters looking to collaborate with European clusters are invited to an event taking place in Washington, D.C., during the TechConnect World Innovation Conference, on May 16, 2017. The seminar and matchmaking event is being organized by the European Cluster Collaboration Platform and BILAT USA 4.0. BILAT USA 4.0 seeks to support transatlantic cluster cooperation for strategic business partnerships and enhance, support and further develop the research and innovation cooperation between the European Union and the U.S. Participants will be presented with an overview of different possibilities for funding to develop or enhance international cluster cooperation activities. During the meeting, clusters, EU and US policy makers, and research and innovation experts can learn about successful collaboration with European clusters, research institutes and companies. More information on the program can be found here, and the registration deadline is May 5.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.