SSTI Digest

The Tri-Cities (Richland-Kennewick-Pasco) ranks near the top 10 percent nationwide in technology industry growth and offers significant quality-of-life advantages over comparable communities, according to a recent report on local technology business. Released in November 2001, Tri-Cities Innovation & Technology Index provides the first analysis of the Tri-Cities' ability to meet the needs of technology companies and how the community's business and quality-of-life attributes compare with other Northwest cities and national averages. The Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory prepared the report in support of DOE's regional economic diversification efforts. According to the report, the Tri-Cities fares well against its competition in five key areas — innovation, competitiveness, growth, financial capacity and quality of life. In the area of innovation, the Tri-Cities boasts a high percentage of high-tech output and employment and an even higher percentage of technology occupations than the Seattle area. Statewide, the Tri-Cities is slightly…

Several warnings have been issued in recent years about U.S. dominance in the world's scientific and technological communities slipping: the number of science and engineering (S&E) doctorates awarded per capita; the dearth of women and minorities entering technical fields; the facility in which knowledge, companies and people can be transferred globally; scores on standardized math and science tests; and indicators for global entrepreneurship, to name a few. The latest alert, a draft report released in December by the National Science Board (NSB), urges the National Science Foundation (NSF) to take a more active, even strategic, role in fostering and participating in international S&E partnerships and collaborations. Entitled Toward a More Effective NSF Role in International Science and Engineering, the brief report acknowledges the increasing payoff of recent international investments in S&E. "Our participation in international S&E collaborations and partnerships is increasingly important as a means of keeping abreast of important new insights and discoveries…

Regional Technology Strategies, Inc. (RTS), a national nonprofit workforce and economic development group based in Carrboro, N.C., has published Cultivating Successful Rural Economies: Benchmark Practices at Community Colleges. Through a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Fund for Rural America, RTS identified by a competitive process 43 dynamic and effective programs at rural community colleges in the U.S. and abroad that are helping rural businesses adapt to current economic trends. RTS' publication profiles several benchmark practices that encompass effective responses to the regional economic conditions, from a fiber arts program at Northern Mexico Community College to a hospitality-industry training program in Northern Ireland. The profiles, which are meant to help guide community colleges and communities looking for ideas and programs to emulate, are available in searchable format at: http://www.rtsinc.org/benchmark.

Annual R&D expenditures at America's academic institutions topped $30 billion for the first time, according to the early release tables from the National Science Foundation's Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, Fiscal Year 2000. The final results of the latest annual survey reveals a nine percent increase over 1999 expenditures. Despite growing by more than $1.4 billion during 2000, the federal government's share of total support for academic R&D, at 58.19 percent, fell to its lowest percentage since 1959. State and local government share dropped to 7.33 percent, the lowest level since the survey began in 1953. Institutional funds, on the other hand, accounted for 19.71 percent of academic R&D expenditures in 2000, the highest level ever for this source of funding. Industrial support of academic R&D, as a percent of the total academic R&D expenditures, was its greatest in the 1950s at more than eight percent. Since falling to its lowest level of 2.45 percent in 1966, the surveys have reported a slow growth in industrial-…

Chicago Chicago CivicNet recently named 22 firms as finalists for an endeavor to build and operate a network connecting 1,600 public buildings in Chicago with fiber optic cable. CivicNet, an initiative of the City of Chicago and the Mayor's Council of Technology Advisors, saw more than 60 companies respond to the Request for Information issued by the City in November 2001. A finalist competing for CivicNet's Request for Proposals (issued in December) will win $25 million a year for the next 10 years to build the digital network that, being extended to private homes and businesses, would mean considerable additional revenue. A listing of the finalists, who must submit proposals by March 29, is available at: http://www.chicagocivicnet.net/ New York Numerous business and academic leaders recently joined Gov. George Pataki to announce up to $150 million in private sector support for a Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics in Buffalo. Plans for the center call for a 150,000-square-foot building to house drug design research space, computational and three dimensional…

While visions of sugarplums will be dancing in the heads of most Americans, SSTI's staff will be boxing up its files and moving to new offices on Dec. 20-21. Due to the move and because SSTI will be closed during the week of December 24-28, the next issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest and the funding supplement will be published January 4, 2002. That said, we extend a special holiday wish to all readers, friends and supporters. SSTI especially thanks the Economic Development Administration, without whose generous support, the Digest would not be possible. Wishing you a more peaceful and successful 2002, Dan, Becky, Cathy, Ruth, Sue, Mark S. and Mark K. Note: SSTI's new address is provided in the masthead of this and future issues; please make the necessary change in your address books, PDAs, etc. Also, please note that SSTI's telephone and fax numbers will not change, as the move occurs within the same office park.

Creating and strengthening regional competitiveness and innovation is the key to the nation’s ability to succeed in the global marketplace and raise the standard of living for all Americans, according to a new report presented Thursday at a joint conference of the Council on Competitiveness and the National Governors' Association. Titled Clusters of Innovation: Regional Foundations of U.S. Competitiveness, the report is the result of a two-year study sponsored by the Council on Competitiveness that outlines an agenda for both the public and private sectors to strengthen regional economies and build clusters. Strong clusters at the regional level are fundamental to a region’s job growth, wage levels, rate of innovation and the formation of new businesses, the report says. Highlighting in-depth studies of five regions — San Diego, Wichita, Pittsburgh, the Research Triangle, and Atlanta — the report examines 15 clusters within the regions, such as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. The report draws on a first-of-its-kind database on every U.S. regional economy and includes the…

President George W. Bush appointed on Wednesday 22 individuals to serve as members of the Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). They are: Charles Joel Arntzen of Ariz., Norman R. Augustine of Md., Carol Ann Bartz of Calif., M. Kathleen Behrens of Calif., Erich Bloch of D.C., Stephen B. Burke of Penn., Gerald Wayne Clough of Ga., Michael S. Dell of Texas, Raul Fernandez of Md., Marye Anne Fox of N.C., Martha Diane Winters Gilliland of Mo., Ralph E. Gomory of N.Y., Bernadine Patricia Healy of Ohio, Robert John Herbold of Wash., Barbara Kilberg of Va., Walter Eugene Massey of Ga., Gordon E. Moore of Calif., Kenneth Nwabueze of Calif., Steven Gerald Papermaster of Texas, Dr. Luis M. Proenza of Ohio, George Martin Scalise of Calif., and Charles M. Vest of Mass. As the highest level private sector advisory group for the President and the National Science and Technology Council, PCAST provides feedback about Federal programs and science and technology issues of national importance. PCAST's members are drawn from industry, education, and research…

A new report showing that Michigan is performing at the level of the national average in tech transfer recently was released by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan. An Assessment of Technology Transfer at Michigan’s Public Universities holds that Michigan is an improving top-tier commercialization state, using statistics and measurements to create benchmarks in the areas of tech transfer and entrepreneurial activity. The benchmarks are used to compare the performance of Michigan universities with other universities nationwide. As a state, Michigan fares well in the amount of sponsored research funding, with the University of Michigan ranking fourth nationally, according to the report. Overall, Michigan universities in 1999 were below average in new start-up companies created from university research, but preliminary data for 2000 shows improvement in the number of start-ups. In addition to the above findings, the report identifies four areas in university research where improvements could…

Community Science Workshops (CSW) are spreading nationwide, due to a second $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will enable San Francisco State University (SFSU) and its partners to create CSWs across the U.S. CSWs, or informal drop-in science centers, were first given life four years ago when SFSU received its initial $3 million grant from NSF. Being self-supported through community partnerships, CSWs spread in 10 underserved California communities in Fresno, San Jose, Los Angeles, Watsonville and Oakland and led to satellite workshops in neighboring communities. Eight of 15 new sites will be launched in cities including Tucson, Miami, Houston, New Orleans, Detroit, Seattle, New York, and Washington, D.C., with at least one workshop located on or near a Native American reservation. These sites will serve as hubs for developing spinoff sites. As an informal science program, CSWs have enhanced formal science standards by offering onsite science programs to neighboring schools that generally lack the resources and expertise of their local CSW…

Carbondale, Illinois The latest issue of the Illinois Coalition's TechAlert reports Southern Illinois University at Carbondale has broken ground on the $40 million, 45-acre Southern Illinois University Research Park. Plans call for the park to include 12 buildings totaling nearly 236,000 sq. ft. When full, the park should house approximately 75 companies with 800-1,200 tech-skilled employees. Financing for the initial phase has come from an Illinois FIRST grant of $500,000, a $300,000 Congressional earmark, and approximately $700,000 in other federal funds. Verizon also has invested $800,000 in an on-site fiber optic switching center. The park is adjacent to the university's Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center, which houses the Southern Regional Center of the Illinois Manufacturing Center and the Business Incubator Program. Roanoke, Virginia Residents are beginning to question the rapid rise in Roanoke's debt load to finance many redevelopment projects aimed at making the city more attractive for technology businesses, according to a recent story in…

The Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunities Program (TOP), an initiative that promotes the widespread availability and use of digital network technologies in the public and non-profit sectors, has approximately $12.4 million available in FY 2002. As part of the Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), TOP gives matching grants for model projects demonstrating innovative uses of network technologies. Applicants may request up to a total of $750,000 in funds from NTIA. TOP expects the federal amounts awarded to range from $200,000 to $750,000, with an average of approximately $500,000. NTIA will provide up to 50 percent of the total project cost, unless the applicant can document extraordinary circumstances warranting a grant of up to 75 percent. Eligible applicants include any nonprofit organization, education institution or state, local or tribal government agency. Individuals and for-profit entities are encouraged to participate as project partners. Supporting projects for distance learning, public safety, telemedicine,…