SSTI Digest

In his inaugural address last week, Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas announced a four-part plan to bolster research and high-tech economic development. The governor’s Vermont Way Forward strategy would promote high-tech business, particularly in the state’s emerging environmental engineering industry. In addition, the strategy includes a plan to make Vermont what the governor says would be the country’s first “e-state,” one in which universal access to broadband and wireless technology are available anywhere within the state’s borders.   To capitalize on the growing demand for environmentally-conscious technology solutions, the Vermont Way Forward plan calls for the creation of an Environmental Engineering Advisory Council to coordinate state efforts to support research and innovation in developing environmental technologies and services. The council would be composed of engineering, math, science and technology experts appointed by both the state legislature and the governor’s office. Its members would help guide the state toward becoming a world leader in environmental engineering research and business.   The plan also…

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford announced that his budget for fiscal year 2007-08 will include a request for $2 million to bring high-speed Internet access to rural parts of the state. This allocation from the state’s Capital Reserve Fund would be used to create a Rural Broadband fund to increase broadband penetration in underserved communities and is designed to boost economic development by providing Internet access to students, businesses and entrepreneurs.   High-speed broadband connections are only available in 73 percent of the areas receiving phone service in South Carolina, according to recent data from the state’s Office of Regulatory Staff. The governor’s budget cites a study by the Freedom Works Foundation, which estimates that widespread broadband deployment in the state would add nearly 13,000 jobs and increase gross state product by $4.55 billion. The new fund would support efforts to provide rural counties and other local government entities with high-speed broadband, which could be used to assist local businesses, entrepreneurs and schools.   A new, nine-member South Carolina Broadband Advisory Committee…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released the 2005 statistics for science and engineering (S&E) doctorate awards. Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards: 2005 details trends in doctorate awards by S&E field and recipient characteristics, institutions awarding doctorates, and postgraduation plans of recipients. Using NSF and U.S. Census Bureau data, SSTI has prepared a table providing state ranking for doctorate awards by major field and state rankings for the total S&E doctorates awarded per 100,000 residents. The top five states in 2005 for total S&E doctorates awarded per 100,000 residents are the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware and Maryland. SSTI's table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/010807t.htm NSF’s Science and Engineering Doctorate Awards: 2005 is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf07305/ U.S. Census Bureau population data is available at: http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html SSTI’s previously published S&E doctorate awards tables: …

As you begin to fill in your 2007 calendar, remember to mark Oct. 18-19, 2007 to attend SSTI's 11th annual conference in Baltimore! Past attendees know SSTI's conference is the perennial premiere professional development event for the TBED community. And 2007 will be no exception. The conference will be held at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, right on the city's exciting waterfront. As in past years, the conference agenda will be set by our members and affiliates to ensure the most timely and relevant topics for transforming regional economies. Look for more information on SSTI's website soon. Please contact Noelle Sheets, director of membership services, at 614.901.1690 if you have any questions.

The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, a bipartisan group of academic, industry and government leaders, is calling for a massive overhaul of the U.S. education system. In its new report, Tough Choices, Tough Times, the panel of business leaders, scholars, education officials, and former governors and cabinet secretaries argue that the country’s current system of K-12 education is outdated and must be restructured to enable American students to thrive in the global economy.   While most students once required only a rudimentary education to participate in the workforce, technological changes and globalization now demand skilled workers who have been trained in high-quality schools. The commission maintains that the current U.S. system is ill-suited to meeting these needs at any level of funding. Instead, it proposes a new structure that would begin educating children earlier and increase the number of students that enter the workforce with the necessary skills.   The primary component of the commission’s plan is a restructuring of the transition from high school to college. At the age of 16, students would…

State lottery would be leased to private company to finance fund, scholarships Two initiatives recently proposed by Gov. Mitch Daniels would keep graduating college students in-state and lure world-class researchers to Indiana's public universities. However, a lottery lease plan that would, in part, finance the initiatives may be more the center of attention with Indiana legislators. The initiatives: (1) a forgivable loan of up to $20,000 for students who attend four-year colleges or universities in Indiana and stay in the state for three years, else repay the loans, and (2) a fund that would create endowments to cover salary and start-up costs to draw the aforementioned researchers and scholars from outside of Indiana. The financing: Lease the Hoosier Lottery for a fixed term to a contractor that would operate the lottery and continue an annual payment of $200 million to the state. The state would then license and regulate the operator, which would provide an up-front payment to support the education initiatives, and possibly receive an ongoing percentage of the operator's revenue that is above a certain…

The Oregon Innovation Council (Oregon InC), which spent a year reviewing how best to expand the state’s economy by leveraging industry-supported initiatives with public investments, may get to see the toils of its labor come to fruition. Gov. Ted Kulongoski released earlier this month his 2007-09 budget, with full support for the innovation plan put out by Oregon InC. Oregon InC, a private-public statewide advisory council created by the 2005 legislature, had proposed $38.2 million for investment in industry and research initiatives to increase productivity and generate innovative technologies (see the Oct. 2, 2006 issue of the Digest). The governor's budget includes full funding for the council's proposals, including: Continued investment in Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, the state’s first signature research center focused on nanotechnology and microtechnology ($10 million); Development of the nation’s first commercial-scale wave energy park, building on the wave energy research already conducted at Oregon State University ($5.2 million); and, Enhanced training and R&D resources in value-added manufacturing…

A recent report from Hawaii’s Tax Review Commission recommends the state eliminate or drastically overhaul its five-year old tax credit for high-tech investors. According to the report, the current credit provides no clear advantage to the state and appears open to taxpayer abuse. The commission was particularly troubled by the lack of data provided by taxpayers who were approved for the credit and by the lack of transparency concerning the credit within the state’s Department of Taxation.   A review undertaken on behalf of the commission was unable to determine the effectiveness of the credit, due to insufficient data on its cost to the state and its impact on state high-tech industries. This lack of transparency led the commission to suggest the Hawaii credit may be a ‘black hole’ for tax revenues, and propose legislative changes that would restructure the credit as a program of grants administered by a state agency.   The Tax Review Commission concluded that the state’s high-tech industries would be better served by a program of grants administered by a state agency, which could better oversee the state’s technology…

SSTI's most recent publication, A Resource Guide for Technology-based Economic Development, provides valuable insights into three of the most important elements of transforming regional economies: Positioning universities as economic drivers; Fostering entrepreneurship; and, Increasing access to capital. While distinct, these three elements comprise the heart of most state TBED strategies and are closely interrelated. Readers of the guide will benefit from the wisdom and experiences of 58 experienced practitioners who have worked on these issues. Each section of the book provides insight into the characteristics and qualities shared among the best TBED policies and practices. Examples of key strategies from across the country are included, as well as special considerations, cautions or tips for each approach. A Resource Guide for Technology-based Economic Development, produced with support from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, is available as a free, downloadable PDF at http://www.ssti.org/Publications/Onlinepubs/resource_guide.pdf or as an inexpensive 90-page bound book (a format…

The Kansas City region is obtaining funding for high-tech research in the life sciences, but entrepreneurship is stifled because of fragmented efforts to improve the innovation environment and the region’s lack of an overall strategy for its various stakeholders. This finding and others were identified in Completing the Puzzle: Creating a High-Tech and Life Sciences Economy in Kansas City, a recent report prepared for the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program. The report offers suggestions on how a “second-tier” region like Kansas City can build upon its existing industrial capacity to emerge as a viable location for knowledge-based industries.   While labeled as a relatively diverse and stable economy, the report cites the underperformance of the Kansas City region compared to other metropolitan areas using several innovation metrics: a patent registration rate below the national average; lower rankings in the amount of funds received for R&D; a relatively smaller number of advanced degrees awarded in the region; and the inability for local entrepreneurs to obtain SBIR and STTR grants and venture capital. For example, where the…

In what is often seen as a leading indicator of future total international student enrollment numbers, the percentage of newly enrolled foreign students has increased 8.3 percent between the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years. This trend and others were highlighted in the annual Open Doors Report published by the Institute of International Education. The attractiveness of the U.S. as a place to attain an education is of great concern to many higher education institutions and public officials because of the contributions international students make to the innovative capacity and economic future of the U.S.   Looking back over the past few years, total enrollment of international students in the U.S. was at its highest number during the 2002-03 school year – 586,323 students. Enrollment then declined the following two years by 2.4 percent and 1.3 percent, creating concern over the country’s ability to attract international students to its shores, especially after the response to the terrorist attacks in 2001 and the competitiveness of other higher education institutions outside of the U.S. However, new data in this report shows this decline slowing to a…

The University of Arizona's Office of Economic and Policy Analysis seeks a highly qualified and motivated individual to conduct and advance a nationally recognized applied research program in regional economics. Focus areas include regional economic integration, cross border trade and linkages, economic impact analyses, and evaluation of economic development policies. A full description of this opportunity and others is available through the SSTI Job Corner at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.