SSTI Digest

Conference Only seven days remain until the opening of SSTI's 9th Annual Conference in Atlanta. More than 330 of the nation's top thinkers and practitioners for the TBED community will convene at the InterContinental Hotel seeking guidance from their peers. Some will seek better ways to commercialize innovation coming out of their university and industrial research labs. Some will want methods to improve delivery of  their entrepreneurial assistance or research grant programs. Some will question the direction ­ or even existence ­ of our national innovation policies and research funding priorities. Some will look for new approaches, new thinking for increasing local access to risk capital. Some will ask for tools to measure the effectiveness of their public-private investments to encourage tech-based economic growth. All will find answers at Investing in a Brighter Future: Building A Tech-based Economy. The only question remaining is will you be among them at the tech-based economic development community's premier opportunity for professional growth and inspiration? More…

On Monday, Oct. 31, the Southern Growth Policies Board, the Southern Technology Council, Georgia Institute of Technology, the Council on Competitiveness and the Georgia Research Alliance will host a one-day Southern Technology Innovation Summit at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta. The meeting will review the findings from the Council on Competitiveness’ recently released National Innovation Initiative report and launch a new Southern Innovation Initiative. The Innovation Summit will gather business executives, science and technology professionals, economic developers, and university and corporate research scientists to discuss how to promote innovation in the Southern region's economy, institutions and culture. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue will open the meeting, and discussion and panels will feature regional and national speakers on topics including Innovation and Investment, Innovation Infrastructure, and Innovation in a Corporate Context. Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco will close the summit with the announcement of a new Southern Innovation Initiative in 2005-2006. The…

RTI International, an independent, nonprofit research organization based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., is seeking someone for the position of economic development analyst. Activities include designing, managing and supporting technology-based economic development research and implementation projects; preparing strategic, economic, evaluation and policy analyses; collecting data and information from secondary sources; preparing literature reviews; and constructing protocols, complete interviews, site visits and case studies. Candidates should have a master’s degree in planning, public administration, policy or business administration, or related field, with 3-5 years of experience in technology-based economic development. For more information on this position, visit SSTI's online Job Corner at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

Due to SSTI's annual conference being held in Atlanta next week, the next issues of the Digest and Funding Supplement are slated for Nov. 7, 2005.

Keeping with most years in recent memory, the new federal fiscal year began Oct. 1 without Congress approving a budget for nearly all of the national government. With Hurricane Katrina relief and aftermath putting unprecedented demands on the Treasury and Congress, legislators quickly passed a Continuing Resolution last Thursday and Friday to keep the government open through Nov. 18. Only the legislative and Interior-Environment budgets have been enacted and the Homeland Security appropriations bill has moved out of conference. The Continuing Resolution, H.J. Res. 68, will fund programs covered by the bill at the lowest of three levels: fiscal year 2005 funding, the fiscal year 2006 level approved by the House, or the FY 2006 level approved by the Senate.  Media reports state exceptions will be granted for certain agencies and programs, including NASA, the State Department, Medicare, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Budgets for the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Energy Office of Science would be frozen at FY05 levels, since the House and…

To support innovation and technology with increased accessibility for small-and medium-sized firms, Canada's Minister of Industry, David Emerson, announced a new program that will replace Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC). Minister Emerson said in a press release that the new program will be accessible to more industries, tightly focused on transformative technologies, and more transparent to taxpayers. The goal of TPC is to ensure leading-edge industrial research continues in Canada and that Canadian firms remain competitive in the global economy. Created in 1996, TPC has been an operating agency of Industry Canada, providing financial support for strategic R&D and demonstration projects including Environmental Technologies, Aerospace and Defense, and Enabling Technologies. However, since its inception, the program has been riddled with criticism. Critics have accused the program of abysmal repayment rates on its investments, lack of clarity on eligibility, and favoritism toward large Liberal party-supporting corporations, according to an article in The Globe and Mail. In…

Designed to ease the transaction burden on university technology transfer offices and encourage more open and efficient access to research, the Kauffman Foundation recently unveiled iBridge, a web-based platform under the Kauffman Innovation Network. The flexible nature of the iBridge platform allows universities to adapt it to best complement their existing processes for collaboration and technology transfer, according to a press release from the Kauffman Foundation. The application may be used by universities to license and distribute a variety of information including software, research tools, databases, teaching materials, surveys, and reference materials. To safeguard a university's interest in its intellectual property, posting a discovery on the website formally discloses that discovery and starts a record-keeping file. The program also aims to expand the number and scope of collaborative relationships by increasing awareness of existing research across the country. According to the Kauffman Foundation, these relationships are a critical component in advancing new discoveries and may…

Representing a substantial federal commitment, the number of tax credits, deductions and exemptions - collectively referred to as "tax expenditures" - has more than doubled since 1974 and needs to be re-examined to evaluate efficiency, effectiveness, and equitability, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). A recent GAO report describes how tax expenditures have changed over the past three decades and the amount of progress made since the 1994 recommendations to improve scrutiny of tax expenditures. Measurements include change in number, size, and in comparison to federal revenue, spending, and the economy. The federal income tax has long been used as a tool for accomplishing social and economic objectives, while the general objective of tax expenditures are to encourage particular types of activities including funding for research and development, the report states. In determining effectiveness of tax credits, some are enacted on a temporary basis to provide opportunity for evaluation. Such is the case for the research tax credit. Established on a temporary basis in 1981, the…

Drawing expertise from 53 speakers and panelists from 19 states, SSTI's 9th annual conference - to be held Oct. 19-21 in Atlanta - promises to provide its attendees unparalleled opportunity to learn about the latest and best thinking to encourage state and regional growth through tech-based economic development. Want proof? SSTI has published brief speaker bios on our conference website: http://www.ssti.org/Conf05/bios.htm Each of the 20 breakout sessions are designed to encourage engaging discussion and give-and-take among conferees. In addition, the long breaks between sessions and the hosted reception allow conversations started in one session to spill into the halls as participants are able to network with the more than 300 fellow attendees from 46 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and four countries. Don't miss out. There is still time to register for the field's premier professional development opportunity and networking event of the year: https://www.ssti.org/Conf05/registration.htm

Linda Fettig was named director of the Nebraska Rural Development Commission. Kathie Olsen, nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, is the new deputy director of the National Science Foundation. The San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative (SATAI) announced that James Poage is SATAI's new president and CEO. Poage replaces Randy Goldsmith, who continues as a director.

Linda Fettig was named director of the Nebraska Rural Development Commission.

Kathie Olsen, nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, is the new deputy director of the National Science Foundation.