SSTI Digest

The Kansas Bioscience Authority named Thomas Thornton as its first president and CEO.

Dr. Janet Yancey-Wrona left her post as director of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development's Office of Innovation to join a new University of New England biotech start-up.

Incubators and accelerators. Angel, seed and venture capital. Research parks. University and industry research. Technology licensing and commercialization. Entrepreneurship assistance. R&D tax credits. Technology workforce development. Regional technology councils. Manufacturing extension. Science and technology advisers. While all have specific functions, collectively, when supported by public funds, these activities are working toward a single goal of transforming a regional economy to be more competitive in the knowledge-driven global market for innovation and growth. These are not the same components used for traditional economic development approaches that strive to improve or maintain economic vitality of a geographic area. Technology-Based Economic Development is driven to improve the standard of living of the residents and businesses of an area while simultaneously increasing their capacity to generate new opportunities for wealth creation into the future through targeted strategies and investments focused on encouraging a combination of knowledge, innovation, and entrepreneurship. …

Sometimes quality takes longer to achieve than we'd like, but your patience paid off as SSTI has assembled one of our finest slates of sessions yet to anchor the 10th annual conference, Nov. 1-2, in Oklahoma City. Providing the core of the conference, the 24 sessions are structured to allow ample discussion time among participants, something we're told sets SSTI's conferences apart from the rest of the field. Additionally, SSTI uses a two-stage survey process each summer to develop the conference agenda rather than having the agenda set by invitation or call for papers many months in advance. The result is all topics to be discussed were ranked as being of highest interest or most pressing need by SSTI's sponsors and affiliates -- your peers from around the country! Given the breadth and diversity of interests and perspectives present among SSTI's membership, the slate of sessions is assured to offer at least one topic of interest for nearly every component of the TBED community during each of the six time slots offering concurrent breakout sessions. In many cases there will be multiple sessions you'd like to attend, making the team-approach the…

If there is ever an example of a city-region that can demonstrate the benefits of working as a team to transform its economy through all aspects of tech-based economic development, it would have to be the Oklahoma City area. And fortunately, the vibrant community is based in a state that both understands what is needed for transforming an economy from being natural resource-based to knowledge-driven and is matching talk with real money. Whether they realize it or not, several state and regional TBED programs around the country owe their structure and existence to the pioneering TBED work done in Oklahoma since the 1980s. Much of the portfolio of programs offered through OCAST, its private sector partner I2E, the Oklahoma Alliance for Excellence in Manufacturing, and the "Oklahoma model" for increasing equity capital availability has been replicated around the country. The Sooner State may have developed successful comprehensive TBED strategies sooner than the rest of the country, but its residents aren't afraid to share their successes, their lessons learned and their current challenges with their peers from around…

On Oct. 31, SSTI will offer four exciting options as pre-conference activities. Registration is separate from the full conference fee. Seating for each will be limited. Turning Innovations into Enterprises: A Practitioner's Guide to Technology Commercialization A name and face familiar to many SSTI members, Dr. Randy Goldsmith, president of the Mississippi Technology Alliance, brings his internationally popular technology commercialization workshop to this years SSTI pre-conference in a half-day format especially designed for TBED professionals. The Goldsmith Technology Commercialization Model has been adopted by NASA and by economic development organizations in the United Kingdom, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and elsewhere. Through this interactive workshop, Dr. Goldsmith will introduce you to assessment tools, a step-by-step process and financing resources that can help your clients achieve their business objectives. You will identify key milestones, ask critical questions, estimate costs, and determine an entrepreneur's strengths and weaknesses. Based on his extensive technology commercialization…

If you're new to SSTI's annual conferences, you're in for a treat when you join us in Oklahoma City, Nov. 1-2. Here's what you can expect: In-depth examinations of some of the best state and regional approaches to cultivate a bright economic future Unparalleled networking with the right people within the tech-based economic development community Stimulating dialogue and thought-provoking exchange between great thinkers, old friends and new peers from across the country Renewed energy and personal resolve to address the challenges of strengthening your state or local economy A great social networking opportunity enjoying the vibrancy of all Oklahoma City has to offer If you have come before, you know that each year's agenda provides the newest perspectives, thinking and approaches to dealing with common problems, new issues and the latest trends and challenges facing your efforts to transform your regional economy. Register today to attend SSTI's 10th Annual Conference, Transforming Regional Economies, at: https://www.ssti.org/Conf06/registration.htm

On the evening of Oct. 31, SSTI's conference participants will be treated to a fun-filled evening of dinner, drinks, art, culture and entertainment thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the conference's 22 local hosts.The event will be held at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, a stunning 100 percent non-publicly funded cultural art museum and research center. Whether you're unwinding after one of the intensive SSTI pre-conference workshops or just arriving in Oklahoma City, the Opening Reception affords a wonderful, relaxed environment to reconnect with colleagues and network with other conference attendees, speakers and our local hosts. Festivities will begin at 6:30 p.m. Shuttle transportation will be provided between the conference hotel and the museum beginning at 6:00 pm. The sheer number of organizations that comprise our host team perfectly demonstrates Oklahoma truly understands competing in a global knowledge-based economy takes a team. The great social networking opportunity presented by the Opening Reception is made possibly entirely by the generosity and overwhelming hospitality of our…

Launching a revolutionary market-defining product like the iPod is one thing, but commercializing consumer products built on revolutionary manufacturing processes or new material composition have a much tougher time breaking into existing markets unless the new product comes with a significant cost-savings for consumers or quality improvement that warrants the expense. This is particularly true for technologies, services and products built on an energy conservation, waste minimization or other renewable/green platform. An item that either addresses a public good or reduces a social cost (i.e. reducing health costs by reducing air pollution caused in the products manufacture) often has a difficult time remaining on the market because sufficient demand is not in place early enough in the products commercial life to achieve the economies of scale in production and mass distribution. These situations are times when government intervention in the market can be beneficial through incentives like tax credits or rebates for the purchase of hybrid vehicles. Such regulation as mandatory ethanol content requirements in gasoline can…

Synthetic biology, quality of life technologies, fluid power, mid-infrared technologies, and structured organic composites are the five technology areas supported through the new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) awards announced by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The centers will share $75.3 million to develop cross-disciplinary research programs advancing technologies that address major societal problems and provide the basis for new industries. For more than two decades, the ERC program has fostered interdisciplinary research and education collaborations, in close partnership with industry, based on the realities of technological innovation and the development of new products and services. States often incorporate ERCs and state-sponsored university-industry research centers into their tech-based economic development strategies. In each center, scientists and engineers from a variety of disciplines collaborate on broad-based high-risk engineering research, developing fundamental engineering knowledge and test beds for important emerging technologies. NSF supports ERCs for up to 10 years while the centers…

In each of the last five years, the percentage of U.S. academic R&D supported by industry has declined. Real dollar expenditures also have declined to only $2.107 billion. NSF wrote in an April 2006 Issue Brief, "The industrial sector is the first source of academic R&D funding to show a multiyear decline since the survey began, in FY 1953... Industry's share of academic R&D support in FY 2004 equaled its share in FY 1983, at 4.9 percent." Understanding the reasons behind the trend are important before too many conclusions are drawn but one may ask: Should state and local policymakers for TBED be developing approaches to change the direction of the trend? Probably. Using the National Science Foundation's Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, FY 2004, SSTI has prepared two tables: the Aug. 21 table presented in the Digest that compiles the change for statistic in each state during the five-year period 2000-2004 and a new table presenting industry's share of total academic R&D expenditures in 2004 by state. Rankings are also included. [Editor'…

SSTI's is very excited to be holding its 10th Annual Conference in Oklahoma City, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2006. The event has become the premier professional development experience for the tech-based economic development community, the only event to bring together representatives from every aspect of transforming state, regional and local economies through science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. One of the most respected elements of the conference each year is the series of 20-24 intimate breakout sessions that allow participants to explore the more important issues of tech-based economic development with their peers from around the country. The conversations are educational and advanced, stimulating new approaches and ideas to take home to your local or state TBED efforts. The full agenda will be released soon, but SSTI is pleased to give regular Digest readers the first peek at just some of the topics to be included at this year's conference: Understanding the University's Role in Regional Economic Development New Trends in University Tech Commercialization & Intellectual Property Rights Higher Education and…