SSTI Digest

Elaborating on last week's "Useful Stats" article (see the March 26, 2007 issue of the Digest), SSTI has created a table of federal R&D obligations standardized by state population for each of the five years from 2000 to 2004 and ranked by five-year percent change.   The National Science Foundation data show that, in 2004, the District of Columbia led the nation in federal R&D obligations per capita at $324.72, followed by Maryland ($249.03), Massachusetts ($208.52), Hawaii ($134.50), Connecticut ($131.79) and Vermont ($131.62).   Nationally, federal R&D obligations increased by 32.39 percent over the five-year period, averaging $80 per person in 2004. Hawaii experienced the largest increase in per capita federal R&D obligations at 100.45 percent, with North Dakota (83.02 percent), Nebraska (81.62 percent), Tennessee (68.56 percent) and Kentucky (57.33 percent) rounding out the top five.   SSTI's table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/040207t.htm Did you know? One of the most used features of our website is an archive of past…

SSTI is partnering with other organizations to sponsor two conferences that will be of interest to the TBED community: the Regional Workforce Education & Training Best Practices Conference put on by the ASME Center for Engineering Entrepreneurship & Innovation and the Internationalization of Regional Innovation organized by the European-based Technopolicy Network.   The ASME Center for Engineering Entrepreneurship & Innovation is holding the first in a series of Regional Workforce Education & Training Best Practices Conference for the science, engineering, and technology community. The purpose of the conference will be to highlight, educate, and provide awareness on workforce education and training best practices in the Economic Development Administration’s Philadelphia Region.   The conference will take place at the Philadelphia Marriott on May 18, 2007.   The conference will address linking the most innovative regional programs in place to support the educational and career pathways of high school students, university and college graduates, first-job holders, individuals…

The Center for Economic Growth has selected F. Michael Tucker as its new president and CEO. Tucker replaces Kelly Lovell, who left the position in December to become president and CEO of International Business Development Group.

A little money has gone a long way, when you consider the initial size of venture capital investments each year, the $2.1 trillion in revenues captured in 2005, and the nearly 23,000 venture-backed companies that have received investments. In fact, 16.6 percent of the 2005 U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) was directly attributable to the $2.1 trillion in revenues received by venture-backed U.S. companies, while the $23 billion of VC invested in 2005 only equaled 0.2 percent of GDP.   Those figures are reported in Venture Impact: The Economic Importance of Venture Capital Backed Companies to the U.S., prepared by Global Insight and the National Venture Capital Association. In fact, the third edition of the Venture Impact report concludes that venture-backed companies outperform other firms in job creation, revenue growth and overall contribution to state economies.   The report states employment at companies that received investment from venture capital firms grew three times more quickly than their non-venture-backed counterparts between 2003 and 2005. With 10 million employees, venture-backed companies account for 9…

As renewable energy and environmental technologies emerge as some of the promising industries for high-tech economic development, more cities are seeking new ways to boost clean technology research and businesses. Austin, San Jose, Berkeley, Pasadena and Boston have been singled out for their efforts to promote cleantech industries by SustainLane Government, a nonprofit Internet-based organization that provides current practices and news about municipal sustainability. These cities have all found novel approaches to assisting start-ups and commercializing research in one of the fastest-growing industries for venture capital investment.   SustainLane defines cleantech industries as those involving energy generation, management and efficiency, wind and air related technologies, advanced transportation, and green building technologies. The group's concept of an ideal model for cleantech development combines three elements: Availability of angel and venture capital for all stages of business development, along with access to networks of investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and business leaders; Industry collaboration and partnerships…

Browsing the business section of a bookstore may yield dozens of titles purporting to explain the process of innovation. This newsletter and most others serving the nation’s policymakers and science and technology communities have covered reports calling for a national innovation strategy. Unfortunately, most meetings on the subject have to begin by developing a working definition of the term innovation that most can accept. The use or overuse of the word, particularly in calls for needing more of it or business books on how to do it, threatens to reduce innovation to a meaningless buzzword that loses hope of having any real value.   Fortunately, slightly removed from political circles, there are those interested in understanding the basis of innovation and discovery with a scientific grounding. The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released the proceedings of an August 2006 workshop exploring what is known about how innovation and discovery occurs on the individual and team level. The panelists' conclusion? Not much, particularly related to understanding engineering and design.   After hearing the state-…

Information technology (IT) permeates almost all aspects of the economy and is what really drives economic growth, according to a report released this month by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). The report’s authors, Robert Atkinson and Andrew McKay, believe the diffusion of information technology increases worker productivity 3-5 times more than non-IT capital. In Digital Prosperity: Understanding the Economic Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution, they collect and synthesize various reports citing the influence of IT, separated into five key measures: productivity, employment, efficiency of markets, quality of goods and services, and the innovation of new products and services.   Atkinson and McKay offer guiding principles for policymakers to help sustain IT-based growth, including: Information technology policy should be a centerpiece of economic policy, connecting it to tax policy, regulatory reform, spending and trade policy. Governments should push IT development and transformation in many components of its activities including health care, education and infrastructure construction…

The federal government distributed $23.8 billion in R&D obligations to universities and colleges in fiscal year 2004 — a 4.4 percent increase from the FY 2003 total of $22.8 billion, according to new National Science Foundation (NSF) data. In its report, Federal Science and Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions: Fiscal Year 2004, NSF details all categories of direct federal science and engineering support to institutions of higher education in the U.S.   Single-year snapshots can be misleading, so SSTI has prepared a table using the NSF data that shows the state rankings for total federal academic R&D obligations and percent change over the five-year period of 2000-2004. Nationally, federal R&D obligations grew by 37.7 percent over the period but some states saw much larger changes. Among these states, Hawaii showed the largest increase in federal R&D obligations at 108.3 percent, followed by Nebraska (85.2 percent), North Dakota (81.5 percent), Tennessee (73.9 percent) and Kentucky (60.9 percent).   In total dollar amount, California led the nation with $3.46 billion in…

Eric Cromwell announced he is resigning as director of technology development for the State of Tennessee. Frank Dinucci announced he will step down in April 2007 as president of Connecticut Innovations. C. Robert Eaton is resigning as president of MdBio, effective March 31, 2007, to pursue other opportunities in the private sector. Bill Goetz, chief of staff in the North Dakota Office of the Governor, has been selected to be chancellor of the North Dakota University System, beginning July 1, 2007. Oleg Kaganovich will resign as CEO of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance (SARTA) in June 2007, but remain a member of SARTA's board of directors. Robert Santy is the new president and CEO of CERC, the Connecticut Economic Resource Center Inc., filling the position left vacant due to the retirement of Marty Hunt. Peter Scott was named the director of Kettering University's new Fuel Cell and Advanced Technology Incubator. The New York Biotechnology Association…

Eric Cromwell announced he is resigning as director of technology development for the State of Tennessee.

Frank Dinucci announced he will step down in April 2007 as president of Connecticut Innovations.

C. Robert Eaton is resigning as president of MdBio, effective March 31, 2007, to pursue other opportunities in the private sector.