SSTI Digest

The declining value of the U.S. dollar and other business cost considerations are giving the U.S. a favorable cost advantage compared to other industrialized nations in Europe, Japan and Australia, according to a new biennial report from KPMG. The 2008 Edition of KPMG’s Competitive Alternatives collects data over a range of industries, such as precision manufacturing and biomedical R&D, to compare 136 metro areas in 10 countries. When looking at aggregate national business costs across various sectors, Japan and Germany are 14.3 percent and 16.8 percent higher, respectively, than the U.S. Canada’s overall business costs are 0.6 percent lower than the U.S., and Mexico’s costs are 20.5 percent lower than those of the U.S.   To create the U.S. business costs comparisons, KPMG examined 59 metropolitan areas throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The report delved into the varied business costs over a 10-year planning horizon for 17 different operations in each metro, which were grouped into the following four industry clusters: Manufacturing (such as electronics assembly, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices); R&D (such as electronic…

Many state and regional TBED organizations see federal laboratories as an integral partner in their efforts to promote technology development and commercialization. At least 22 of the leading state TBED organizations across the country have established partnerships with at least one federal laboratory to address a broad range of goals, according to a recent SSTI survey. Advancing collaborative research, strengthening industry clusters, transferring technology to/from federal labs and companies, and assisting in education and outreach were the most commonly cited reasons for pursuing closer relationships with the nation's network of 700 federal labs and research centers. The survey also found state TBED-federal lab collaboration crosses state boundaries more easily than some may expect: SSTI discovered one-third of all relationships state TBED organizations have with federal laboratories take place at laboratories outside of their state. In addition, more state and local TBED organizations are looking to form new partnerships or expanding existing arrangements based on the successes seen from their initial efforts. Understanding the opportunity and establishing…

John Austin is the newly appointed executive director of the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan. Tom Cech announced he will return to the University of Colorado at Boulder next year to pursue laboratory research and teaching after eight years as president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Sarah Djamshidi was selected as executive director of the Chesapeake Innovation Center. John Hardin was named the acting executive director for the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology. Wayne Hicks announced he is stepping down as the president and CEO of the Cincinnati Business Incubator to focus on other interests, including his work as executive director of the BDPA Education and Technology Foundation. Paul Wooley will serve as R&D director for Via Christi's Orthopedic Research Institute and a faculty member in engineering and biology at Wichita State University.

Regional and industry cries of a highly skilled worker shortage, particularly for scientists and engineers appear well grounded based on a recent InfoBrief from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Foundation reports in 2006, the unemployment rate for scientists and engineers in the U.S. fell to 2.5 percent. Decreasing from 3.2 percent in 2003, the figure is the lowest unemployment rate measured since the early 1990s using the Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System, NSF reports.   The findings are quite sobering when paired with this week’s release of the widely covered report by America’s Promise Alliance that reveals more than 1.1 million children in the U.S. drop out of high school each year. NSF defines scientists and engineers as including people who have received a bachelor’s degree or higher in S&E or S&E-related academic fields and people without an S&E degree working in S&E or S&E-related occupations. Unemployment for the U.S. labor market as a whole was 4.7 percent in 2006, about 2.2 percentage points higher than the unemployment rate for scientists and engineers in that year. …

This week's issue of Southern Compass, the electronic newsletter published by the Southern Growth Policies Board, suggested its readers check out the March 27, 2008, edition of Education Week, which is dedicated to examining what states are doing to improve science, technology, engineering and math education (STEM). STEM education is considered one of the highest priorities by many groups for the U.S. to maintain its global leadership in innovation and competitiveness. The online Education Week is dedicated to the Technology Counts report, which looks at the states' STEM progress in the three areas of student access to technology, use of technology in student education, and institutional and teacher capacity to use technology. A joint project of Education Week and the Editorial Projects of the Educational Research Center, Technology Counts 2008 is the 11th annual assessment conducted to benchmark states against each other and the national average on 14 indicators, such as test scores, standards and policy inputs toward improving STEM education. While Technology Counts 2008 marks significant progress in several areas nationally - such as the number of states…

Lexington, Ky., Mayor Jim Newberry announced last week a college scholarship plan targeting students pursing degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields as a means to transform the local economy into a globally competitive community by investing in the city’s youth.   The proposed Lexington First Fund would provide full tuition to every Fayette County high school graduate for up to four years at any institution of higher education located within an hour’s drive of Lexington. The only requirement is that students must pursue an associate or bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or a teaching degree in one of these fields. The idea is that by encouraging residents to pursue STEM fields, the local economy will reap the benefits of a highly skilled workforce. The plan also aims to promote attendance at local institutes of higher education and attract high-tech industries to the city.   Mayor Newberry hopes to produce the same impact that has already emerged in Michigan from a program still in its infancy, the Kalamazoo Promise scholarship. Beginning with the class of 2006, students enrolled in the Kalamazoo…

A growing number of academic researchers and TBED practitioners are taking interest in the emerging subject of open innovation. Like all new concepts and business practices, open innovation is not well understood by broader audiences and under-researched in the academic community. Tobias Fredberg, Maria Elmquist and Susanne Ollila from Chamlers University of Technology in Sweden attempt to address both needs in a recent paper, Managing Open Innovation – Present Findings and Future Directions. Their review of the subject involved two tasks, the first being the synthesis of literature dating from when open innovation was coined in 2003 to when they performed their search in November 2007. They identified four books, 35 journal articles and 10 book reviews explicitly using the term “open innovation.” The second task was the collection of opinions from nine key researchers to define the current frontier of open innovation research.   But first, what is open innovation?   Like many topics in emerging fields, the exact definition of open innovation is still being debated. The term’s roots can be found in the concepts…

The secret is out – and it’s fairly simple. All you need is an outstanding TBED initiative with proven success that stands out among the crowd.   SSTI often receives news and updates on programs that are improving our nation’s competitiveness through science, technology and innovation. Now, we are calling upon the TBED community to share these success stories – and we’ll reward you for your efforts. All you have to do is put it in writing, and we promise it will be well worth your time. As an award winner, you will: Receive accolades and honors on SSTI's website and in the SSTI Weekly Digest; Bask in the glory of being a featured presenter during SSTI’s annual conference in Cleveland, Oct. 15-16, 2008; and, Take home an elegant vase embossed with your organization’s name – more a work of art than a trophy! Send us your story by May 16!   Download the 2008 awards brochure and application form at: http://www.ssti.org/awards.htm   To learn more about the 2007 Excellence in TBED Award winners, please visit: http://www.ssti.org/Awards/07winners.htm

The Beaver County (Pa.) CO-OP announced it will change its name to StartingGate. The incubator will continue to assist entrepreneurs and new business start-ups and help expand existing businesses. Joe Dedman was chosen as the first executive director of the Southeast Indiana WIRED. Brian DuBoff was named the director of Maryland's southern region Small Business Development Center, which is hosted by the College of Southern Maryland. Barbara Goodman has joined the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization as its executive director. Mark Long has stepped down as the CEO of the Indiana University Research and Technology Corp. Robert McMahan Jr., the North Carolina governor's senior adviser for science and technology and executive director of the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology, has left those posts to become dean of Western Carolina University's Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology. The Oklahoma Bioscience Association announced its launch. Tracey van Niekerk has been selected as the new life sciences coordinator for the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County, Indiana. Van…

Last week, SSTI reported the draft SBIR Reauthorization bill circulated by the House Small Business Committee in mid-March included language that would reauthorize the Federal & State Technology Partnership (FAST) for two years at its current $10 million level. FAST was created with the 2000 SBIR reauthorization and received appropriations through the Small Business Administration (SBA) for three of the next four years.   In its first iteration between 2000-2004, FAST received mixed reviews. It could be made better through the present reauthorization process. Before that, however, an important and often overlooked point must be made: there is little to no criticism with the underlying concept or mission of FAST to provide financial support to state and local efforts to promote the federal SBIR program and improve the quality of small business participation in SBIR across the country.   That lack of criticism can easily be attributed to the fact that promotion of the opportunities afforded small tech firms through SBIR and the provision of high-quality proposal development assistance does make a difference in the number of competitive…

On March 25, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Thomas Dorr announced that Open Range Communications, headquartered in Denver, Colo., will receive a $267 million loan from USDA Rural Development to provide broadband service to 518 rural communities in 17 states. The commitment represents one of the largest public-private investments for broadband service by the federal government, the USDA reports. It is also the first USDA Rural Development investment to support Wi-Max technology.   The Open Range project is intended to cover more than six million people and serve more than 447,000 households within five years. In addition, the services are expected to help create jobs and business opportunities in the project's 17 states, including: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin.   The partnership will help address the need to deploy wireless, portable broadband connectivity to improve service in considerable portions of rural America. The set of services will provide Wi-Max…

Adjourning from the 2008 legislative session on March 13, Virginia legislators passed the fiscal year 2008-10 biennial budget but immediately called for a special session to resolve differences in the proposed capital outlay plan that supports university R&D and commercialization efforts.    Gov. Tim Kaine unveiled the bond package in December, which includes funding to upgrade university research buildings and laboratories and purchase new research equipment. The bond package also targets construction projects focused on developing a skilled workforce (see the Dec. 19, 2007 issue of the Digest). Lawmakers will reconvene April 23 to act on the bond package and to consider the governor’s amendments and vetoes to the state budget.   Faced with a projected budget shortfall of $339 million for the remaining fiscal year and more than $1 billion in FY09-10, Gov. Kaine announced last month a revised budget revenue proposal to his original recommendations unveiled late last year.   To address the shortfall, Gov. Kaine called for reductions across executive budget branch agencies, targeted cuts to many of his own…