SSTI Digest

Changes have led the business community to redefine its performance standards, government to rethink its goals and nonprofits to redouble their efforts to meet rising demands, according to a new report published by the Three Sector Initiative, a collaboration of seven organizations representing business, government and nonprofits. Working Better Together: How Government, Business and Nonprofit Organizations Can Achieve Public Purposes Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Alliances and Partnerships works off the premise that technological, social and political changes have had far-reaching implications for the way government, business and nonprofit organizations fulfill their missions and work together. The report details the ways the sectors have used collaboration to form partnerships with each other to address complex problems. The report also draws on regional dialogues with representatives of the three sectors, providing examples of how leaders can work together. New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen explains that fiscal constraints motivate her state…

More than 60 presentations on patterns, or solutions to problems in a given context, figure to be the highlight of CPSR's 8th biannual Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing (DIAC) symposium, "Shaping the Network Society: Patterns for Participation, Action, and Change," being held May 16-19 in Seattle. CPSR (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility) describes patterns as observable actions, empirical findings, hypotheses, theories or best practices that exist at all levels. Patterns can be global or local and theoretical or practical, according to CPSR. Some of the presentations at the DIAC-02 symposium have particular relevance to state and local tech-based economic development affects, including: How to Survive Once the Government Funds Run Out Computer Learning Centers in Public Housing Complexes Using Technology for Social Engagement of the Aged Community-based Information Technology Workforce Development Designing a Collaborative Community Information System The Challenges of Global Learning in the New Digital Age Bridging the…

The SSTI Weekly Digest will be taking a brief spring break and will resume publication on Friday, May 3. 

New York Governor George Pataki recently announced a multimillion plan to transform the aging 300-acre W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus in Albany, N.Y., into a world-class research and development technology park.  "The transformation of the Harriman Campus will provide opportunities for researchers and entrepreneurs to work together right here in the Capital Region, attracting technology businesses and building new industries, to create high quality, high-tech jobs for 21st century," Gov. Pataki said in a press release.  The plan paves the way for $304 million in combined public and private investment to help renovate aging facilities at the campus and to develop new office space.  Under the plan, public sector investment will provide for site and infrastructure improvements costing $14 million and demolition costing $50 million. Approximately $240 million of private sector investment will build 1.2 million sq. ft. of new office space ($134 million); 650,000 sq. ft. of renovated office space ($40…

Ten rural communities and the technologies being used within them are the focus of Networking the Land: Rural America in the Information Age, the latest report released by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the Department of Commerce.  NTIA's new Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) report reveals the communities are using telecommunications and information technologies for many purposes, from developing local economies to managing natural resources to improving access to education. Case studies are presented on the 10 communities:  Seba Dalkai Boarding School, Navajo Nation (Ariz., N.M., Col., and Utah)  Mayville State University (Mayville, N.D.)  Sevier River Water Users Association (Utah)  Coastal Economic Development Corporation (Bath, Maine)  Regional Medical Center at Lubec (Lubec, Maine)  University of Vermont and State Agricultural College (Burlington, Vt.)  Marshall University (Huntington, W.Va.)  North Dakota State University (Fargo, N.D.)  Virtual Chautauqua…

Economic development leaders within the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Technology Corridor have joined other areas of the U.S. in marketing the area as one unified region. Elected representatives from 10 cities and two counties located in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Technology Corridor recently signed a joint proclamation as a statement of support for the Corridor’s targeted industry cluster development regional efforts. This effort, focusing on the strength of the regional economy, is designed to attract prospective businesses and industry to the Corridor.  For planning and marketing purposes, the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Technology Corridor is defined as a region including the metropolitan areas of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City and adjacent communities represented by Priority One and Iowa City Area Development (ICAD). Representatives of Priority One — an economic development division of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce — and the nonprofit ICAD worked to define the regional economy and to determine both short- and long-term development prospects. The approach utilized…

In Perfectly Competitive Innovation, a March 2002 research department staff report for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine address whether current copyright, licensing and patent laws which grant monopolist rights to inventors beneficial or harmful to the innovation process. The authors suggest the latter in certain markets.  Most modern analysis of innovation, the authors contend, is based on models assuming monopolistic competition as a prerequisite for understanding innovation and growth. Instead, Boldrin and Levine conceive a model that confers the "right of first sale" practice that was granted to entrepreneurs historically [defined loosely as before the mid-19th century]. They also argue that, contrary to prevalent opinion, idea generation and the creative effort should be viewed as sunk costs instead of as fixed costs. Models based on competitive markets can address sunk costs.  The econometric model developed by Boldrin and Levine supports the conclusions that:  "the historical process…

Industrial R&D intensity — measured by the ratio of industry R&D to Gross State Product (GSP) — can be a useful S&T indicator, because it indicates the level of private sector R&D activity and standardizes the data to eliminate geographic, demographic, historical, and natural resource differences among the states.  With the recent release of the National Science Foundation's Survey of Industrial Research and Development: 1999, SSTI has constructed a table presenting the data and state rankings for industrial R&D intensity for 1997-1999, the three latest years available.  The top five states for each year and their scores are:  1997 1998 1999 Michigan (4.65) Delaware (7.30) Michigan (5.75) Idaho (4.02) Massachusetts (4.40) Rhode Island (3.88…

Alabama  To help rural Alabama communities work with existing industries toward job training and creation, Governor Don Sielgelman is creating a Center for Economic Growth within the Alabama Department Office. The new initiative is intended to help businesses in the rural communities cope with pressures to keep and retain qualified workers once the recently announced $1 billion Hyundai automotive plant begins hiring up to 2,000 employees. The center also will help the areas develop industrial recruitment strategies, according to the Associated Press.  Arlington, Texas  The Arlington Technology Incubator opened April 1 at the University of Texas at Arlington in cooperation with the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, according to stories in the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The center, to be housed in a building to be constructed in downtown Arlington, will help spin off research from the school's nanotechnology program. Former Mayor Richard Greene will serve as the first director, and the chamber's foundation…

Want to expand broadband in your state or community? Looking to launch a biotech initiative? Getting into commercializing university research? Are tight budgets leading to more rigorous program evaluation? Or do you simply want to help your community understand the importance of technology?  Any of these efforts should get easier with the 17 new titles added to Resources for Building Tech-based Economies, SSTI's publications catalog. A three-page PDF supplement of the new titles is available on the SSTI website as is the entire revised catalog, replete with more than 125 great resources to make your programs more effective and your job more rewarding.  As always, SSTI sponsors and affiliates receive a 10 percent discount on all purchases.  Both the new titles supplement and complete catalog are available at: http://www.ssti.org/Publications/publications.htm

On Wednesday, Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker officially launched Pennsylvania's Life Sciences Greenhouse, an historic initiative to be spread among three regions of the state — Southeast, Southwest and Central Pennsylvania. The Governor announced $100 million will seed the program, including $33.8 million for the Southeast region, $33.3 million for the Southwest region, and $32.8 million for Central Pennsylvania. The state's financial support, which will come from surplus tobacco settlement funds, is the largest single technology-related, economic development investment in Pennsylvania history, according to a press release issued by the Governor's office. Pennsylvania's Life Sciences Greenhouse is designed to build on the biotechnology research at Pennsylvania's top universities. The initiative is expected to create 4,400 new jobs, attract or create 100 new biotechnology companies, and leverage more than $150 million in private capital over the next five years. Renal Solutions Inc. (RSI), an integrated medical device and…

[Note: SSTI defines a technology council as a regional entity that is membership-based and independently funded with science and technology-based economic development as one of its primary goals. National trade associations and government-created technology councils which serve in an advisory or policy role are excluded from this discussion.] The economic climate of the past year has created financial challenges for several regional technology councils and local industry associations. While a few of the 200+ councils around the country have received brief funding from state or local governments, most are dependent on membership dues and fees for a significant portion of their revenue base. For many small businesses, outlays for membership dues, conference fees, and subscriptions are reduced as revenues decline. The dot-com crash, with the resulting bankruptcies, closures, mergers and consolidations of IT companies, shrank the market of potential council participants in several localities. Particularly hard hit, obviously, are the IT-related technology councils. For example…