SSTI Digest

Universities in Canada are a major component of the country's science and technology ecosystem, and as gauged by funding, they performed 36 percent of Canada's R&D activities in 2007. In the U.S. comparatively, universities accounted for 13 percent of the R&D performed in the country. A breakdown of both the performing sectors and sources of R&D funding are included in two recent publications: Momentum: The 2008 Report on University Research and Knowledge Mobilization by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) and an August InfoBrief by the National Science Foundation. At 54 percent, private industry performed $15.8 billion (Canadian) of Canada's R&D in 2007. This was followed by universities performing $10.4 billion, or 36 percent. The Canadian federal government performed 8 percent ($2.3 billion) and non-profit organizations contributed to 1 percent ($324 million) of R&D efforts. Private industry was also the highest sector in the U.S. in 2007, performing 72 percent of the country's R&D efforts, or $265.2 billion. Universities were responsible for $48.9 billion, or 13 percent of the total, which was similar in size…

SSTI has prepared a table displaying the amount of funding companies spent on R&D in each state from 2002 to 2006, the state's rank in 2006, the percent change over this five-year period, and the rank of that percent change. For the U.S. as a whole, industry-funded R&D was $193.8 billion in 2002 and rose to $247.7 billion in 2006 - a five-year jump of 27.8 percent. Note, the amounts in the chart are not indexed to a single year, but reflect values of when the data was released. View the table at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/111208t.htm. California led the country with $58.4 billion in R&D funding from industry in 2006. This was followed by Michigan ($16.5 billion), Massachusetts ($15.6 billion), New Jersey ($14.6 billion), and Texas at $13.3 billion. Washington, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut rounded out the top ten states. Alabama realized the largest percent increase from 2002 to 2006, rising from $846 million in 2002 to $1.83 billion in 2006 - a gain of 117 percent. New Mexico was the only other state to witness more than a doubling spent on R&D by industry. Rounding out the top ten, the other states to see at…

After two years of campaigning, President-elect Barack Obama has begun shaping the agenda for his coming administration. Though nothing is certain at this point, throughout his campaign, President-elect Obama reiterated his support for TBED-related initiatives and plans to increase funding for research and innovation. His Plan for Science and Innovation, released in September, makes a wide range of TBED commitments, touching on clean energy investment, STEM education, entrepreneurship and basic research. Last month the New York Times, with research from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), estimated the annual cost of Obama's innovation plan at $85.6 billion. The president-elect pledged during the campaign to double the current level of funding for basic research over the next ten years at federal science agencies and to fully fund the America Competes Act, signed by President George Bush, at $5.9 billion annually. In order to foster private sector innovation, the Obama plan would make the research and development tax credit permanent, double funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to…

Tuesday's elections will allow the Democrats in Congress to expand their majorities in both the House and the Senate. With several races still to be decided, the exact composition of the House is undetermined, although Democrats picked up at least 18 seats, according to the Washington Post. As of Thursday afternoon, there are 57 seats in the Senate for Democrats and those who caucus with the Democratic party, 40 seats for the Republicans, and 3 seats yet to be decided - with Georgia going to a special runoff later this month, Minnesota heading for a recount, and Alaska too close to call. When the new 111th Congress convenes in January, it will have two years of budgets to consider. That's because Congress has not completed the budgetary process for FY 2009, which began in October. President Bush signed a continuing resolution the day before FY09 was to start, which outlines appropriations for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs, but keeps funding levels at or below FY 2008 levels for all other Departments until March 6, 2009. Additionally, the 111th will be dealing with new committee assignments and chairs as a result of President…

The outcome of Tuesday's election resulted in several wins and some defeats for TBED among the more than 150 ballot measures presented to voters across the nation. Outlined below are the unofficial election results of select ballot measures from each state's respective election office and local media reports as of Wednesday, Nov. 5. More detailed information on the measures is provided in last week's issue of the Digest, which is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2008/102908.htm#election. Arkansas Voters approved 63 percent to 37 percent a constitutional amendment authorizing the General Assembly to establish, operate and regulate state lotteries to fund scholarships and grants for residents enrolled in two- and four-year colleges and universities in the state. Voters also approved a measure to shift the state's budgeting from a two-year cycle to an annual cycle. California Two measures supporting renewable energy were defeated by California voters. Proposition 7, requiring public and private utilities to generate a percentage of their power from renewable energy, was defeated 65 percent to 35 percent. Proposition 10, authorizing the state to…

Eleven gubernatorial elections were held across the U.S. on Tuesday, resulting in the selection of three new governors - with TBED initiatives spread throughout their campaigns' messages. Only one of the races resulted in a change of party affiliation in the top state position, Missouri, where Democrat Jay Nixon defeated Republican Congressman Kenny Hulshof after current-Governor Matt Blunt declared he would not seek another term. Democrats now hold twenty-nine governorships, expanding on their significant gains in 2006. Governors retaining their seats include John Hoeven (R-ND), Christine Gregoire (D-WA), Brian Schweitzer (D-MT), Jon Huntsman (R-UT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Mitch Daniels (R-IN), John Lynch (D-NH), and Jim Douglas (R-VT). Several of the governors-elect made economic development and TBED a part of their platforms throughout their candidacy. Here is a sampling of policies and programs announced by some of the governors-elect on their official websites as collected by SSTI: Delaware State Treasurer Jack Markell (D) notes in his economic development plan that he became Nextel's 13th employee in 1989, in addition to being a colleague of…

Democrats took control of five legislative chambers in Tuesday's elections: Delaware House, Nevada Senate, New York Senate, Ohio House, and Wisconsin Assembly. The Republicans picked up control of four chambers: Montana Senate, Oklahoma Senate, and both the House and Senate of Tennessee. Two houses, the Alaska Senate and the Montana House, are now tied, according to information compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and published reports.   Starting in 2009, Democrats will control both chambers in 27 legislatures, Republicans will control both in 14 states, and the chambers will be split in eight states. Nebraska has a unicameral legislature and does not figure into this calculation.   Of those eight split states, five of them - Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania - will have their Senate controlled by the Republicans and their House controlled by the Democrats. One state, Virginia, will be split with a Democrat Senate and a Republican House. The remaining two, Alaska and Montana, will have one of their chambers tied.   Including the results from the recent gubernatorial elections,…

While the Presidential election takes center stage on November 4, voters in several states also will cast their votes on statewide ballot issues affecting the TBED community. In addition to the 11 gubernatorial races and more than 5,800 state legislative seats up for grabs, voters across the nation will consider measures to provide funding for public education, expand investment in alternative and renewable energy, lift restrictions on stem-cell research, and eliminate income tax and state spending caps. Following is a summary of selected ballot issues from across the nation. Funding Public Education Florida Florida voters will be asked to amend the state constitution to require that the legislature authorize counties to levy a local option sales tax to supplement funding for public community colleges. Ballot question 8 requires voter approval to levy the tax. Maryland A proposal in Maryland asks voters to approve an amendment to the state constitution authorizing video lottery terminal gaming to provide funds for public education. Question 2 legalizes up to 15,000 machines at sites in four counties and the city of Baltimore. HB 4 requires…

Though the U.S. Treasury's initial proposal for a bailout of the financial sector was only three pages when it was first submitted to Congress, federal legislators did not waste time in expanding its scope. The $700 billion emergency stabilization package, passed early this month, eventually swelled to more than 400 pages. One of the largest additions to the bill was a new section extending incentives for alternative and renewable energy.  These provisions include an extension of the wind energy Production Tax Credit and the solar energy Investment Tax Credit, as well as several other energy credits. In total, the bailout act contains 150 pages of energy provisions.  The 30 percent investment tax credit for solar, geothermal and fuel cells was extended through 2016, as was the ten percent credit for microturbines. New investment credits were introduced for combined heat and power systems, small commercial wind property and geothermal heat pump, all of which will stay in effect through 2017. A new provision allows public utility property to beeligible for the credit, and the credit may now be used to reduce the alternative minimum tax for certain…

Gov. Jim Douglas recently announced Vermont will roll out a suite of grants and incentives to strengthen the state's software industry. The initiative includes state-funded low-interest loans to software businesses, employment growth incentives and a tax credit for software research. In his unveiling of the software initiative at Champlain College's new Emergent Media Center, Gov. Douglas explained that state agencies will use these new measures in conjunction with the Center to help build a local software development cluster. Under the new initiative, the state will provide $150,000 to the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies to support student entrepreneurs. The money will fund three low-interest loans to help state university and college students start new software design companies. A $47,000 grant to the Vermont Software Developers Alliance, the statewide software trade association, will help provide support for existing businesses.  Gov. Douglas also announced his intention to expand Vermont's Employment Growth Incentive. The change will expand the cash incentive to companies that create new software jobs. Vermont's Department of Labor will start…

The U.S. should create a nationwide network of innovation zones which gather the capabilities of entities such as research parks, technology incubators, universities, and federal laboratories according to a recent report from the Association of University Research Parks (AURP). The Power of Place: A National Strategy for Building America's Communities of Innovation, recommends coupling distinct federal policies, regulatory reforms, and incentives along with these research and commercialization clusters to accelerate their impact. The report contends the U.S. is losing human capital and its competitive position to other foreign governments which are providing incentives and employing place-based technology development strategies. Because of this changing global landscape, only one of the ten largest research parks in the world - the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina - is located in the U.S. And a new model of research parks is emerging, where commercial and residential space, multi-tenant buildings, and sustainable design concepts merge with a diverse collection of participating institutions (see the Nov. 28, 2007 special issue of the Digest on planning innovation…

In the 2002 report Signs of Life: The Growth of Biotechnology Centers in the U.S., Joseph Cortright and Heike Mayer suggested it would take more than a decade for biotech investment strategies to yield fruit  - as measured by NIH funding and biocommercialization efforts. On the state level, with five years of NIH research funding data now available, some states can boast real percentage and actual dollar changes in the amount of NIH funding captured. Since total NIH funding peaked during the 2002-2006 period before beginning several years of nongrowth or decline in actual awards made, the gains in some states means other states saw declines. SSTI has prepared a table showing the yearly total amount from NIH grants directed to each state from 2002 to 2006, the percent change over that period, and the rank of that change. The total amount of NIH grants in the U.S. in 2002 was $18.9 billion, gradually increasing every year to $23.1 billion in 2005. In 2006, this amount fell to $20.8 billion. Among the states, five had totals larger than $1 billion in 2006: California at $3.1 billion, Massachusetts at $2.2 billion, New York at $1.9 billion,…