SSTI Digest

Increased financial support for start-up companies and the research sector has the attention of Canadian Minister of Finance Ralph Goodale. In the Minister's 2004 budget report, released last month, venture capital (VC) initiatives totaling $270 million (CAN) are targeted for investment. Combined with private sector investments, total VC funding is expected to amount to $1 billion. Canada is uniquely positioned to benefit from the current global economic recovery, the budget report states. The VC funding, which is reserved for the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and the Farm Credit Corporation, would be directed into four areas: $100 million for direct investments in new technologies; $100 million to support the creation of specialized funds that will leverage additional private equity investment in cutting-edge technologies; $50 million to invest directly in innovative start-up and early-stage companies to further support the commercialization of enabling technologies; and, $20 million over two years for agriculture and agri-food companies. Venture capital…

Although Massachusetts' universities may be at the fore of nanotechnology research and development (R&D), they must continue to win on research for the state to stay competitive for federal funds, suggests a recent report by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) and the Nano Science and Technology Institute (NSTI). Massachusetts is experiencing a surge in nanoscale technologies, according to Nanotechnology In Massachusetts. As of February 2004, close to 100 companies in the state are using or developing the technologies, half of which are within the healthcare and electronics industries. Massachusetts' venture capital community also has invested in companies using or developing nanotech. In 2003, these firms attracted more than $120 million in funding, second only to California's $480 million. For Massachusetts to remain competitive in nanotech R&D domestically and abroad, the report argues, the state's universities must continue producing the innovations that have made the state a leader. Nine Massachusetts universities are said to be involved in nanotech R&D,…

A significant reduction in employment among southwestern Pennsylvania's technology industries in 2002 was not enough to offset signs of a turnaround, according to new data released by the Pittsburgh Technology Council (PTC). Over the second half of the year, a turnaround began to emerge and technology companies accounted for nearly 17.5 percent of the region’s workforce, PTC's annual State of the Industry Report shows. The region's technology industries also experienced an average 4 percent increase in annual wages. Released last month, the PTC report attempts to take a deeper look at the emerging technology clusters found in southwestern Pennsylvania. The updated report considers the contributions of technology companies to the 13 counties comprising the region, drawing on growth numbers from 2002. In all, thirteen key industry clusters are identified by PTC. Covered in this year's edition of the State of the Industry Report are eight new clusters, including: system-on-a-chip, data storage, nanotechnology and micro-electro mechanical systems, cyber security, tissue engineering and regenerative…

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced last month a partnership with the Loudoun County, Va., school district to donate $1 million per year to establish a biotech magnet program for area high school students. The nonprofit’s support of the Loudoun district was made in connection with a tax break for a new research campus at Janelia Farm, scheduled to open in 2006. The district is hoping some of the nearly 300 scientists expected to work at the new facility will also sponsor student research programs and act as mentors. An empty wing of the district’s new Dominion High School will house the program that will be open to students through a competitive application process. Students will attend the program every other day, while remaining at their home high school for other classes and extracurricular activities. Two other initiatives included in the partnership are: College scholarships of $7,000 for two outstanding science students from each Loudoun County high school, beginning with the 2004 graduating class. Fourteen students will receive scholarships…

Oklahoma's Higher Education Day, when students and faculty are given the chance to discuss their concerns with the state legislature, recently provided a golden opportunity of sorts for Gov. Brad Henry. Held March 9 at the State House, the event enabled the governor to advocate support for a bond issue that would fund endowed chairs at Oklahoma's colleges and universities. According to Gov. Henry's budget figures, $44 million in private donations are waiting for matching state funds for the endowed chair program. The governor is proposing a bond issue to match those donations. Funding endowed chairs, which enables a college or program to recruit and retain faculty whose reputations elevate its prominence, is a key component of the governor's $1 billion Economic Development Generating Excellence (EDGE) initiative (see the Jan. 23, 2004, issue of the Digest). The EDGE task force, created last August as part of the initiative, consists of private and public sector volunteers that review the state’s economic development efforts and recommend improvements. Eliminating the present backlog in…

A new fund developed by the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) is expected to lead to greater commercialization of technologies in the northeast state. Created through a reserved proportion of MTI’s annual grantable funds, the Accelerated Commercialization Fund (ACF) will allow previously funded MTI companies the chance to achieve significant growth. To qualify for funding, companies must at a minimum demonstrate significant potential for financial and economic development returns. The financing gap that exists between some companies' research and development (R&D) and sales is the motivating force behind the Maine fund. MTI plans on the investments piggybacking on other investors' terms, generally in the form of equity, and either converting existing debt or providing additional capital to help advance new products toward the market. Approximately $1 million will seed the ACF, with two to three investments made each year. MTI will select only those companies with high growth potential and interest in equity investments, with consideration given to a variety of factors — an investment's…

Innovations in public and private institutions could be the key to aligning governance with opportunity, according to the Center for the Study of Rural America's latest annual report. Previous focus for the center has been on how rural regions can build new economic engines, which the report's authors contend is well understood by public and private leaders. What is less understood, they explain, is the need to effectively change how regions reach economic decisions, a process they call rural governance. New governance, suggests Innovations in Rural Governance, will define how decisions will be made within a region and how key institutions of federal, state and local government, higher education and the private sector will work together. Solving jurisdictional boundary issues is vital to the process of bringing partnerships together, the authors explain. In many rural regions, institutions that were created for 19th and 20th century economies are no longer compatible with today’s technology, they say. This has resulted in old jurisdictional boundaries impeding on multi-county…

Looking to jumpstart the federal policy process regarding broadband Internet access, the Alliance for Public Technology (APT) has released A Nation of Laboratories, Broadband Experiments in The States, a report examining various broadband policies and programs nationwide. In its report, APT recognizes that some states have productive programs in place, while others have none at all. APT contends that only a national policy can ensure full and equitable access to advanced telecommunications services. Upon release of the report, Matthew Bennett, APT’s public policy director, said the fact that such programs are limited to single states undermines the goal of universal service envisioned by the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which according to the Federal Communications Commission, is intended to allow anyone to enter the communications business and any communications business to compete in any market against another business. Chicago-area businesses seem to be feeling the effects of limited access, even though it is the center of more Internet traffic than any city worldwide, according to…

One of the hottest political topics this year is the outsourcing of U.S. jobs to other countries. A Google search on "outsourcing" returns about 4.8 million pages. Reports from Gartner, Forrester Research, McKinsey & Company, AeA, and the Institute for International Economics, among others, have looked at the topic and fed the interest. While the presidential campaigns attempt to deal with the issue, in the last week alone, four governor have taken steps to try and address some aspect of the outsourcing issue. As is typical in technology issues, state action defies party label and geography. Earlier this week, Utah Gov. Olene Walker signed legislation that will provide financial incentives and assistance to state agencies that outsource work to companies in rural Utah. The program will be administered through the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development's Smart Sites program <http://smartsites.utah.gov/>. The legislation can be found at: http://www.le.state.ut.us/~2004/htmdoc/sbillhtm/SB0199S01.htm In Michigan, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed Executive Directive…

For years, defining "high technology" and identifying industries that fit within that classification has been a difficult task loaded with political implications. AeA, for example, has used a definition of high tech in its publication Cyberstates that places heavy emphasis on information technology. In presentations around the country, SSTI has advocated using a definition based on work prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that defines high tech by data rather than ideology. Unfortunately, the BLS definition was developed under the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. Attempts to translate those industry sectors into the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) through correspondence tables and crosswalks results in a list lacking in precision because the individual user must make certain judgments as to whether or not an industry should be included. A new issue brief, Technology Industries and Occupations for NAICS Industry Data, prepared by the Center for Economic Development (CED) at Carnegie Mellon University and SSTI offers a new approach to…

Although their courses of action may differ, competing proposals sponsored by the New York State Senate and Assembly would seem to have the same goal — create jobs, support small businesses, and transform the state's manufacturing sector. Representing one side is Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Raymond), whose proposal would create the Excell-NY initiative. Bruno established the NexGen task force in December 2003 to provide recommendations for sustained job creation and economic growth, and Excell-NY resulted. The success of previous economic development programs such as JOBS 2000, Gen*NY*sis and NYSTAR led to the new initiative. Excell-NY would cost the state $7 million in its current fiscal year and $50 million over the plan's proposed 10-year lifetime. At the core of the initiative are five regional nonprofit centers for innovation that would provide businesses with innovation capital and venture capital as well as business and technical expertise. Other components include: Venture capital and financial assistance. The Excel-NY centers would operate four capital funds to…

Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher joined National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officials earlier this month to announce a partnership in support of the Moon-Mars initiative. The agreement pairs the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. (KSTC) with the nation's principal agency for space exploration. The joint effort between KSTC and NASA will involve research in living systems, information systems, automation, nanotech and celestial mining. To facilitate their work, KSTC will open and manage an office at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. The office, to be funded and managed by KSTC, is intended to expand access to new talent, venture capital firms, innovative companies and universities. Kentucky's own companies, faculty and students will have access to the office. Kentucky and NASA already participate in several joint projects through the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, the Remote Sensing Center at Murray State University, the NASA Space Grant Consortium and NASA EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) efforts at…