SSTI Digest

To encourage innovation in research, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) recently awarded $600 million to 56 biomedical scientists who will investigate and pursue scientific discoveries ranging from microbiology and immunology to bioengineering and synthetic biology. The awards are provided at an opportune time for the U.S., as federal funding for basic research is declining and concerns regarding the nation’s competitiveness are increasing among the scientific community. HHMI appoints scientists as investigators rather than awarding research grants for a particular project, enabling scientists to explore and change the direction of their research and follow through on projects over many years. This allows for riskier research that may not be as easily supported by federal agencies. Recipients were selected through a competitive process among 1,070 applications submitted nationwide. This year marked the first direct application process in which HHMI assembled a review panel to evaluate the applications rather than requiring institutional approval. 

In the midst of a national economic downturn, coupled with stagnant to little growth in wages for even college-educated individuals, state efforts to build a qualified workforce and attract industries in emerging fields that pay above-average wages are crucial to ensuring economic growth.   A recent report on income trends issued jointly by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute finds that one in five U.S. families has a lower income today than they did at the start of the decade. Analyzing state-by-state income trends over the past 20 years, the report also finds a long-standing trend of growing inequality between families in the wealthiest income bracket and those in the middle- to lower-income brackets. In fact, while incomes have declined by 2.5 percent among the bottom fifth of U.S. families since the late 1990s, the data indicates that incomes have increased by 9.1 percent among the top fifth.

Although the U.S. broadband infrastructure has expanded rapidly over the past decade, 45 percent of rural areas still lack access to high-speed Internet services. A recent issue brief from the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices provides a number of strategies that have proven effective in expanding broadband access, particularly in underserved rural areas.   The brief highlights a number of state efforts that have been successful in expanding and improving service in recent years. These include the California Broadband Initiative, ConnectKentucky, Maine's ConnectME Authority and the New York State Council for Universal Broadband. Together, these profiles offer an overview of how states are approaching the digital divide.   NGA also presents a number of specific strategies that can be implemented in states with high-speed Internet gaps to create a comprehensive broadband access initiative. For example, the report provides a guide to 14 state tax credit programs that have been used to increase demand for broadband services or to encourage the development of new broadband infrastructure.  

To speed the commercialization of technologies developed within the state's three public research universities, the Arizona state auditor general has made several recommendations that also may be of value to tech transfer efforts and academic institutions across the country. 

Since the inception of the HOPE scholarship program in Georgia 15 years ago, the number of state-sponsored merit-based scholarship initiatives to increase the number of students attending in-state colleges and universities has increased throughout the country. One such statewide initiative, Florida’s Bright Futures Program, was established in 1997 and has since become the second largest merit-based scholarship program in the U.S. At the recent annual forum of the Association of Institutional Research held in Seattle, Dr. Shouping Hu of Florida State University presented a paper examining the possible unintended consequences for student bachelor degree enrollment in the STEM fields before and after the implementation of Florida’s program.  

The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently announced Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP) as the winner of the "Excellence in Technology-led Economic Development" award, as part of EDA's Excellence in Economic Development Awards 2008. BFTP, created in 1983, has regional offices in Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and State College.

Janet Harrah was named the director of a new center being started at Northern Kentucky University that is similar to Wichita State University's Center for Economic Development and Business Research, where Harrah will remain director until July 25.

Peter Hermann resigned as president of the North Carolina Technology Association.

Throughout most of the history of the U.S. venture capital industry, expanding, and not start-up companies, have been the primary focus of venture investors. Recent data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers and National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) annual MoneyTreeTM Report indicates that investors are beginning to focus on even later-stage companies, which could be a problem for entrepreneurs and states trying to attract earlier-stage dollars.   State and national investment data by stage is now available on the profile pages of the SSTI Venture Capital Dashboard for all 50 states (plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico).