SSTI Digest

SSTI has updated its Key Technology Area Investment Data Tool with new and refreshed data spanning January 1, 2013, through June 30, 2025. The tool comprises two interactive visuals and uses Pitchbook technology verticals selected to align with many of the key technology focus areas (KTFAs) defined in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (CHIPS). The tool breaks down the number of investment-backed companies, investment deals, and amount of capital invested by each state, year (2013-2025H1), and investment stage (e.g., seed, angel, venture). For this update, data through June 30, 2025, were downloaded on July 1, 2025, and built into the provided visualizations on the data tool webpage. Note that because many investment deals are not subject to disclosure, it is difficult to immediately identify investment activity, often leading to data for more recent years being less complete. This potential for incomplete data is a critical issue to consider when exploring data from the first half of 2025 and other recent periods. SSTI analyzed Pitchbook’s 59 industry verticals for which they collect investment data, compared them to the 10 CHIPS-defined KTFAs, and…

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is requesting information from the public to help shape potential future updates to its Key Technology Focus Areas (KTFAs). NSF’s KTFAs directly influence and shape innovation- and economic development-related programs. For example, KTFAs have been important factors in the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) and NSF’s Regional Innovation Engines (Engines) programs which require regions to advance a critical technology area that already has traction in their region. Comments are due on or before 11:59 p.m. EST on July 21, 2025. For information on how and where to submit comments, refer to the official request for information here. While the above programs support regions advancing a critical technology area already present in their region, identifying such areas is often challenging for proposers to programs like these. Recognizing this, SSTI has recently updated a data tool with data through the first half of 2025, which includes two interactive visuals that can aid in identifying the critical technologies in potential applicants’ geographic locations. …

In 2024, nearly 628,000 job postings demanded at least one AI skill, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity. The research also revealed that the percentage of all job postings requiring at least one AI skill increased from approximately 0.5% in 2010 to 1.7% in 2024. These numbers, however, do not inform workforce development practitioners or workers selecting training programs about which levels of education produce the most in-demand workers entering the AI-dominated workforce, nor do they indicate which occupations at what level of educational attainment have increasing demand for these skills. To provide these insights, the Fed researchers conducted an examination of the growth in employer demand for AI skills, analyzing online job posting data from 2010 to 2024.  The researchers conclude that the highest demand for AI skills within major occupational groups in the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system—regardless of educational level—was, logically, in computer and mathematical occupations; in 2023, 12.3% of all job postings in that area asked for AI skills, an increase from 1.6%…

Patents serve as a powerful tool that promotes the disclosure and diffusion of new innovations while allowing inventors an exclusive period to commercialize and profit from the technology. The U.S., while a hub for innovation and a leader in patents, has experienced stagnation in the growth of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications and USPTO-granted utility patents in recent years. Ever since 2021, China has surpassed the U.S. in PCT applications, and more than half of all USPTO utility patents are owned by foreign entities, including Japan and the European Union.  This edition of Useful Stats explores U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and PCT patent data compiled from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and data from the Business Enterprise R&D (BERD) survey. These data provide a background for how the patent landscape across the U.S. has changed over the past few decades. USPTO is the federal agency responsible for granting U.S. patents and registering trademarks. Patents issued by USPTO are valid only within the U.S. and its territories and do not provide any legal protection abroad. USPTO issues three main types of…

If you are an entrepreneurship service organization (ESO), you likely are seeing more companies within your scope adopting artificial intelligence (AI). But how well do you understand their needs for further assistance with the transformative platform technology? A recent report from the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), “How small business owners are learning, using, and navigating challenges with AI tools,” sheds light on what your companies may be experiencing and offers some recommendations. The findings are based on 3,752 business owners nationwide who responded to an ICIC survey, as well as five focus groups. Eighty-nine percent of business owners who responded to the survey reported that someone in their organization currently utilizes AI. However, who, exactly, is using AI within a company at a specific organizational level varies from industry to industry. The industry where most business owners reported using AI themselves was real estate and rental and leasing, at 63.7%. These same owners in the industry reported that mid- and lower-level management in their companies were using AI at 37.3%, a significantly lower percentage than owners’ usage. In…

Two recent research reports, one from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) and another from Ivy Tech Community College, in collaboration with TEConomy Partners, LLC, focus on credential shortages that are keeping many jobs that don't require a bachelor's degree unfilled. The CEW study examines high-paying middle-skills career worker shortages nationwide, a category that encompasses jobs requiring an associate's degree or certificate and paying more than $55,000 per year. Researchers concluded that the U.S. must produce 712,000 additional certificates and associate's degrees to prepare the workforce for these opportunities. They emphasized that filling these shortages could present significant opportunities for men and women of all races and ethnicities to gain high-paying middle-skills occupations. Shortages are expected to persist through 2032. The Ivy Tech-TEConomy report also reports on the need for non-bachelor's education to prepare the…

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s (ASPI) report, ASPI’s two-decade CriticalTechnology Tracker: The rewards of long-term research investment, aims to identifywhich countries and institutions are leading in high-impact research across 64 criticaltechnological domains, including defense, space, energy, environment, artificialintelligence, biotechnology, robotics, cyber, computing, advanced materials, andquantum technologies. The tracker's methodology involves analyzing the top 10% ofhighly cited research publications in each critical technology. According to ASPI, thisapproach emphasizes research that significantly influences the technological lifecycleand is likely to lead to patents and breakthroughs. The dataset spans from 2003 to2023, allowing for both short-term (five-year) and long-term (21-year) trend analyses. The report’s key finding is a change in global leadership. Data from the first five yearscovered in the report (2003-2007) shows the U.S. led in 60 of the 64 technologies backthen. However, data from the last five years (2019-2023), shows China emerged as theleader in 57 of these technologies,…

In fiscal year (FY) 2023, federal obligations for science and engineering (S&E) to universities and colleges totaled $49 billion—$29 billion more than FY 2000, and a 10% increase from the prior year. The growth is less rapid when adjusted for inflation (2017 USD), with just over $40 billion in real obligations in FY 2023, a 5% increase over the year prior and $12.6 billion (or 46%) increase over the FY 2000 value. Each year, approximately 90% of these federal obligations for higher education S&E are allotted to R&D activities, directly supporting key innovation activities nationwide. This article uses data from The Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions—the sole source of comprehensive, institutional-level data on federal science and engineering funding to academia and nonprofits—to provide breakdowns of federal obligations for S&E to universities and colleges at the national and state levels.   National overview of the data When adjusted for inflation (in constant 2017 dollars), federal support reached its peak in FY 2009 at $40.3 billion, primarily due to the inclusion…

Many SSTI members will attend the annual BIO International Convention, which will be held this year in Boston from June 16 to 19. There, they join a cohort of organizations with various connections to the life sciences, including contract research and manufacturing companies, academic centers, "big" pharma, "little" pharma, and foreign nations representing their life sciences efforts.  "The convention provides a valuable opportunity to engage directly with senior leaders, understand their growth challenges, and connect them with (our) resources,” said Jennifer Leinbach, executive director of the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development. “BIO offers in-person time with regional partners I typically meet virtually. Booth collaboration fosters deeper conversations that often lead to new initiatives. Last year, I engaged with university tech transfer offices, venture capitalists, and consultants seeking to invest in Pennsylvania." There are also legal firms, accounting firms, and anyone else who is, in the words of Jim Pannucci, vice president of entrepreneurship & ecosystem development at…

With Q1 2025 venture capital (VC) data stabilized and reports coming out on investment activity, it is a good time to review 2025 VC investment from a TBED perspective. Many published reports on VC activity include deals at the top end of the size range that—with individual transactions now reaching- billions of dollars—can swing some of the metrics and mask the underlying nuances facing smaller companies and markets. While investment levels are trending up, the totals are driven by mega deals and AI companies. Looking deeper into the numbers, there appears to be a broad shift away from smaller investments toward larger deals. This shift raises important questions for publicly supported innovation finance programs intended to close financing gaps and provide technical assistance that prepares companies for larger investments.  A recent report from Carta highlights a few important data points for the TBED community. First, Carta notes an 18% uptick in seed round valuations, but a 28% slowdown in early stage deals and a 37% drop in funding totals. A similar trend was observed in Series A rounds with…

The U.S. Small Business Administration posted a notice in the June 9, 2025, Federal Register of SBA’s intent to establish a Manufacturing in America Advisory Committee to “provide strategic guidance, advice, and recommendations to the U.S. government and relevant stakeholders on matters related to growth, supply chain resilience, and innovation of small manufacturing businesses across the country. The committee will act as the collaborative body to ensure the sector's needs, challenges, and opportunities are addressed. The committee's mission over the next two years will focus on supporting economic growth, job creation, on-shoring of critical manufacturing capabilities, and global competitiveness.” Adrienne Johnson, committee management officer in the Office of the Administrator, is listed as the SBA contact for those seeking more information. (202) 205-6685 or FACA@sba.gov.

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced that the agency formerly known as the U.S. AI Safety Institute has been renamed the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI). The center’s priority focus areas also have been adjusted so that CAISI can serve as industry’s primary point of contact within the U.S. Government to facilitate testing and collaborative research. According to the Commerce announcement, CAISI will: Work with NIST organizations to develop guidelines and best practices to measure and improve the security of AI systems, and work with the NIST Information Technology Laboratory and other NIST organizations to assist industry to develop voluntary standards. Establish voluntary agreements with private sector AI developers and evaluators and lead unclassified evaluations of AI capabilities that may pose risks to national security. In conducting these evaluations, CAISI will focus on demonstrable risks, such as cybersecurity, biosecurity, and chemical weapons. Lead evaluations and assessments of capabilities of U.S. and adversary AI systems, the adoption of foreign AI systems, and the state of international AI competition. Lead evaluations and…