SSTI Digest

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently released the first draft of a new national broadband map providing a more granular look at broadband service throughout the country. The new broadband map was created to ensure that the $42.45 billion federal investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program makes its way to the areas most in need of broadband service when it is allocated to states on June 30. This program provides each state with at least $100 million and additional funds according to the number of unserved or underserved areas. This new broadband service map is a response to a demand from Congress in 2020 for a more detailed map. Previous broadband maps determined service at a census block level. The new map determines broadband access by address using data from internet service providers and allows the public to check their address to confirm its accuracy. If people find the map incorrect, they can file a challenge. In October, New York state officials challenged FCC data, claiming that 31,000 locations were said to have access that are actually underserved or unserved. This claim is…

Enough races have now been called in the 2022 midterm elections to confirm that the Senate will remain under Democratic party control while the House will switch to the Republican party. If any legislation is going to advance to the White House over the next two years, the parties are going to need to work together — both across and within each chamber (where Senate filibuster rules and House politics are likely to make bipartisan votes a necessity to passing bills). Federal technology and innovation policy has a history of support from both parties. Further, there has been strong recognition across the government that America’s global economic competitiveness and national security are both intrinsically tied to the development of new technologies and the integration of these innovations across the economy. As evidence of this support in the current Congress: the CHIPS and Science Act passed the Senate (64 “yea” votes) and the House (243 “yea” votes) with bipartisan support, and funding for SSTI’s Innovation Advocacy Council priorities has champions on both sides of the aisle — a major factor in seeing consistent increases for Build to Scale, Regional Innovation…

A report from ITIF exploring the factors involved in ecosystem strength found that states in Germany generally perform better than states in the U.S., Italy, and Canada in terms of globalization, knowledge economy, and innovation capacity. The Index reported that the critical factors influencing an ecosystem are the quality of education (especially in STEM fields), public and private R&D investments, the range of highly trained R&D personnel, economic dynamism, and entrepreneurship. Based on these indicators, ITIF ranked Massachusetts, California, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, and Washington as the leading regions for innovation competitiveness. While the U.S. outperforms its peers in higher education attainment (Knowledge Economy), Germany shows strength in technical and scientific employment. To prevent stagnation, ITIF recommends the U.S. promote industry-university partnerships supporting both R&D and STEM education efforts, as there is room for improvement in terms of increasing skilled immigration and levels of professional employment. The United States ranks lower than Italy and Germany in R&D personnel and lower than Germany in R…

Despite the success of Michigan’s numerous initiatives to provide tuition-free college, an analysis from New America exploring Michigan’s effort to increase the affordability and accessibility of higher education found that the fragmented approach reduces the state’s ability to reach all residents needing financial assistance. To make college more affordable and accessible to all Michiganders, the report recommends considering more straightforward free-tuition programs. One of Michigan’s first tuition-free initiatives was Michigan Reconnect, which provides free tuition at in-district community colleges for residents over 25. According to data from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity cited by New America, the Michigan Reconnect program provided nearly 19,700 residents with free community college. A second program, Futures for Frontlines, was created to help essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic afford community college. This program helped 26,000 Michigan residents access community college. The most recent program, the Michigan Achievement Scholarship, provides up to $5,500 for a student each year at any public university or college in…

Thirty-six states held gubernatorial contests in Tuesday’s (Nov. 8) mid-term elections. By the end of the last week, winners in 32 states had been chosen. As of today, contests in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon have been called; while votes continued to be tallied in Alaska, which held its first ranked choice general election. Gov. Mike Dunleavy maintains a substantial lead and appears he will be re-elected. As such, Dunleavy will be the first governor to be elected to back-to-back terms in the state since former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles won reelection in 1998. Results from gubernatorial elections and ballot measures that were not available at last week’s writing are detailed below. With the elections finalized in Arizona and Oregon, the new year will see 12 states headed by a female governor; Oregon’s Gov.-elect Tina Kotek will join Gov.-elect Maura Healey in Massachusetts as one of the first openly lesbian governors. Democrats were able to flip Arizona, Maryland and Massachusetts, while the GOP flipped Nevada. Republicans will maintain a slight advantage with 26 states having a GOP governor in January. (Before the mid-term election, Republicans held 28 states…

Amazon is allocating $50 million from its Climate Pledge Fund — Amazon’s venture capital program that invests in companies pioneering decarbonizing technologies and solutions — to invest in women-founded and women-led climate tech companies, as well as incubators and accelerators that prioritize women-led entities. The Amazon press release states that female-founded companies typically receive a fraction of global venture capital, and that percentage fell during the pandemic, yet research shows that female entrepreneurs are more likely than their male counterparts to innovate to address social needs. Women-led companies also generate more revenue per dollar invested and produce greater ROI for investors. It is unclear what portion of the $50 million allocation is likely to remain in the U.S. Paired with the announcement was another in which Amazon provided $3 million match to a similar-sized investment from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to seed the Climate Gender Equity Fund. The new fund is a public-private partnership intended to address the gender inequities that exist for women in the climate finance ecosystem and support female…

As opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) develop around the country, different inclusion programs are being put in place to increase participation for women in the field. SSTI previously released an article highlighting the lack of female participation in certain STEM careers, like computer science and engineering, despite tech industries growing in different cities around the country. This week’s story focuses on different efforts that are in place to help turn that tide and increase women’s participation in STEM fields and the results the efforts are having. A frequently-raised issue related to women specifically in computer science is the lack of female representation and role models. NSF awarded a grant for Code: Sci Girls, a three-year project designed to engage 8 to 13-year-old girls in coding through transmedia programming to help inspire and prepare them for future computer science studies and career paths. The grant helped produce a show shown on PBS that has proven effective in piquing the interest of young girls in the STEM field. Episodes also stream on Amazon and the SciGirls YouTube channel. The episodes garnered 25 million…

Going into Tuesday’s 2022 mid-term elections, less electoral shakeup in state legislatures was expected after states’ redistricting efforts shored up many safe seats for incumbents — with the one notable exception being Michigan, thanks to an independent commission that had drawn a competitive map that put both legislative chambers in play. The results detailed below reveal the new, and some still-standing, makeup of statehouse leadership changes as the result of Tuesday’s election. At the start of the mid-terms, there were 37 state government trifectas (when one political party holds the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature) — with Republicans holding 23, Democrats holding 14, and 13 states with divided government (when one political party controls the governorship and the opposing party holds one or both chambers of the state legislature). As of Wednesday, Nov. 9, and if election results hold, 2023 will have 41 state government trifectas ­— more than at any time in the last 30 years.  In seven states, Democrats were projected to have a chance (however slight) at winning a trifecta (Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota,…

As of Thursday morning, party control of both chambers of Congress is undetermined, as final outcomes remain unknown for 44 House seats and three Senate seats (per the AP). Chamber control may drive the size of the next few federal budgets — affecting opportunities for additional science and innovation funding — and determines who will be chair versus ranking member of committees. Regardless of the electoral outcomes, however, many of the relevant leaders will be unknown until committee assignments occur next year. At a minimum: the Senate appropriations committee will replace the Democratic and Republican leaders; the Senate commerce and small business committees will see new Republican leaders; the House science committee will have a new Democratic leader; and, the House small business committee will have a new Republican leader. SSTI will post updates as those results are available.

Voters across the country faced a number of ballot measures in Tuesday’s election that could in turn affect the innovation economy in their states. Bond issues affecting higher education were approved in New Mexico and Rhode Island, while the vote is still being counted in Arizona, which considered a measure that would allow more aid for non-citizens of the state pursuing higher education. Massachusetts voters narrowly passed the millionaires tax on the ballot there, with education and transportation reaping the increase in revenues, while California voters turned down a similar tax that would have benefitted zero-emission vehicle subsidies and wildfire suppression. The environment was a winner in a New York $4.2 billion bond proposal as was broadband expansion in Alabama. Several states considered changes to the rules affecting their legislators, elections and ballot initiatives with mixed results.   Read more below for a breakdown of results on ballot initiatives that could affect states’ innovation economies. With 70% of the vote counted in Arizona as of this writing, Proposition 308, relating to the classification of students for tuition purposes and…

Thirty-six states held gubernatorial contests in Tuesday’s (Nov. 8) mid-term elections. By the end of the night and as of this writing Thursday morning, winners in 32 states had been chosen, with votes still being tallied in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon. Voters in 27 states re-elected the incumbent; while in eight states (Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Oregon), voters chose a new governor to replace a term-limited incumbent. In two states, Connecticut and Georgia, the incumbent governor successfully faced a re-match with their 2018 opponents; while in Alaska and Maine, the incumbent faced and defeated his/her predecessor. Meanwhile, until this election, voters in Michigan and Wisconsin have not elected a governor of the same party as the sitting president since 1990; and in Kansas and New Mexico, voters have not done so since 1968 and 1986, respectively. In five states — Alabama, Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, and Oregon ­— women incumbent governors and/or opposing candidates competed to either retain or gain the executive seat. Three states (Arkansas, Massachusetts, and New York) have elected their first female…

In an effort to alleviate the nationwide shortage of semiconductors, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) announced two cross-sector partnerships, one with Intel Corp. and the other partnership with Micron Technology, Inc. NSF plans to invest $10 million in combination with the companies from each partnership in support of research, education, infrastructure building, and workforce development for semiconductor design and manufacturing. The Intel announcement is one part of a previously announced 10-year collaboration between NSF and Intel that will, over time, invest $100 million to address semiconductor design and manufacturing challenges and workforce shortages around the country. NSF and Micron will each invest $5 million to fund rigorous and engaging instructional material, teacher professional development, and experiential opportunities for students to improve education at higher education institutions, whether it be a two-year college or four-year university, including minority serving institutions. Awards made through this partnership are meant to expand the US’s production capacity in semiconductors, which has been complicated by the…