SSTI Digest

Former Oklahoma Treasurer Scott Meacham has been named president and CEO of i2E.

LaunchTN announced Charlie Brock as the organization's new president and chief executive officer and Stuart McWhorter as the organization's new vice-chair.

BioCrossroads President and CEO David Johnson was named President and CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, while continuing to lead BioCrossroads, CICP's life sciences initiative, along with his new duties at CICP. David Johnson succeeds Mark Miles.

Dan Sharp has been named director of UT Austin's Office of Technology Commercialization. Sharp, who holds both law and engineering degrees from UT, formerly was associate director of intellectual property and licensing at the office.

Amid the economic uncertainty surrounding fiscal cliff negotiations, and what it means for states, some governors are erring on the side of caution when it comes to funding recommendations for the upcoming year. At the same time, several state budget officers are projecting significant revenue shortfalls in the current fiscal year or biennium as a result of lower than expected tax collections.

States could lose an estimated $7.5 billion in federal funding if the automatic spending cuts take effect for 161 grant programs, according to a recent analysis by the Associated Press. States with heavy defense spending, such as California, Texas and Virginia could also take a hit with $33.6 billion in cuts slated for military and defense contractors.

In the coming months, governors from across the nation will present their State of the State addresses — a key time to unveil new and expanded TBED programs. But for some states, shoring up budgets and preparing for worst case scenarios is the top priority.

In a new report, the National Academies' Institute of Medicine (IOM) praises the remarkable research output of California's Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) during its first seven years, but recommends several changes in oversight that could improve the quality and defensibility of its work. IOM suggests that external scientific reviews and independent oversight of the institute's management could help ameliorate concerns about conflicts of interest and increase transparency.

Launched in 2004 by ballot initiative, CIRM is tasked with distributing $3 billion in state funds for stem cell research and regenerative medicine over at least ten years. The state raised the funds through the issuance of general obligation bonds, which has helped to ensure that the state's stem cell research community has a reliable source of funding for its work. This is particularly important in the field of regenerative medicine, due to continuing uncertainty about the federal government's willingness to fund research using human embryonic stem cells.

In an attempt to leverage the economic promise of young people, the state of Kentucky is launching a new public-private initiative designed to enhance creative thinking and entrepreneurial skills. The Governor's School of Entrepreneurs will be launched this summer as an experiential program that brings together representatives from Kentucky's science, engineering, design, entrepreneurial, and higher education communities to teach promising high school students from across the state on business fundamentals, entrepreneurship, product design, and creative thinking. The program is modeled after the long-running Governor's Scholars program for academically gifted students.

A new report released by Deloitte on "U.S. Public Opinions on Manufacturing" reveals that a strong majority of Americans consider manufacturing to be the most important industry in the country. But while nearly two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) believe our manufacturing industry can be globally competitive in the 21st century, most Americans (46 percent) see the manufacturing sector getting weaker or at best staying the same (32 percent). Nearly two-thirds of Americans view the government's current support for the manufacturing industry, as well as current trade and tax policies, to be harmful to our country's ability to remain globally competitive. Read the report...

In a report, the President's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology recommends that the federal government should launch a coordinated effort to boost American agricultural science by increasing public investments.

The report prioritizes seven key scientific challenges facing U.S. agriculture in the 21st century: increasing water efficiency; managing threats posed by new pests, pathogens, and invasive species; accommodating demands for bioenergy production; climate change adaptation; and reducing the environmental footprint of agricultural production while continuing to produce safe and nutritious food for domestic and international markets.

To re-focus the USDA's mission on these emerging challenges to U.S. agriculture the report proposes rebalancing the department's research portfolio and the creation of a public-private network of six multi-disciplinary agricultural "innovation institutes" to leverage the strengths of government scientists and commercial interest. Innovation institutes would be operated as a partnership between the USDA, NSF, DOE, NIH, and private partners.

Two organizations have in recent weeks called on the United States to create a national federal office of innovation to help focus and concentrate innovation across the country.

Following the election, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) announced its policy recommendations for the administration in their weekly news publication as part of their "Winning the Race 2012" series. Among other recommendations to improve the country's competitiveness, innovation, and productivity, ITIF calls for the creation of a National Innovation Foundation. Similar in scope and organization to the National Science Foundation, the National Innovation Foundation would support companies and other organizations in innovation activities. Read more...

The National Research Council has released a report that establishes key indicators for measuring improvement to the U.S. K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education system. The report lays out three key goals for national K-12 STEM education: expand the number of students who pursue advanced degrees and careers in STEM fields, and broaden sector participation for women and minorities; expand the STEM workforce and broaden the participation of women and minorities; and, increase science literacy for all students in the U.S. education system. The authors point out that progress has been made during the past decade; national common core standards in STEM education have already been adopted by 45 states.

In the face of the spiraling unemployment in Greece and Spain, the European Union (EU) received encouraging news regarding the economic recovery of firms across its 27-member states. According to the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, European firms reported increased R&D investment (8.9 percent nominal growth), sales (4.9 percent nominal growth) and profits (3.5 percent nominal growth) for the second straight year in 2011. The 8.9 percent growth in R&D investments by European firms puts them above world average and similar than that of U.S. firms (9.0 percent). However, U.S.-based firms continue to perform better than EU-based firms in terms of sales growth (12.3 percent for U.S. firms versus 4.9 percent for EU firms) and profits growth (12.4 percent for U.S. firms versus 3.5 percent for EU firms).

Gov. Lincoln Chafee has nominated Deputy Director William Parsons to lead the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed J. Bruce Bugg, Jr. as president and chairman of the Texas Economic Development Corp.

Gov.-elect Steve Bullock tapped Meg O'Leary to be the Montana Commerce Department director.

Thomas McDonnell, a Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation trustee since 2003 and board chairman since 2006, has been elected CEO of the foundation.

Blake Perry has been appointed as the interim president of the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority.

With U.S. private sector R&D activity declining and global competition intensifying in areas of U.S. expertise, it is clear the U.S. must take strategic action to maintain its position as the world leader in R&D and prevent innovation from leaving our shores. Last week, the Department of Energy announced 66 breakthrough energy-related projects would receive a total of $130 million through its OPEN 2012 program. Such federal support of early applied research is one of 17 specific recommendations to the president by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) in a report released last Friday entitled Transformation and Opportunity: The Future of U.S. Research Enterprise.

PCAST highlights the United States' five key opportunities to preserve its global advantage in innovation:

Encouraged by promising commercialization efforts, new companies created and an impressive leverage of outside funding, Gov. John Kitzhaber has proposed a more than 50 percent increase in Oregon innovation efforts through the state's signature research centers. The governor's budget proposal for 2013-15 also includes funding to address small business capital needs and to better align workforce programs with employer needs. Calling his two-year spending plan an “education investment budget,” Gov. Kitzhaber also wants $8 billion to reverse the trend of cuts and layoffs in schools and proposed creating a Department of Postsecondary Education.