SSTI Digest

What are you doing to protect your state or local economy from technological advances that will completely overturn an industry 10, 20, 30 years from now? 



With the prospect of someday losing 27,000 high-paying tech jobs at 15 automotive engine and powertrain plants, Michigan has unveiled a plan to position the state as a leader when automotive applications of fuel cell technology make the internal combustion engine obsolete. 



Commissioned by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Automotive Partnership, the strategic plan and market study call for the state and automotive industry to jointly: 

Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey Data (C2SS), compiled from 700,000 test households prior to the full census. C2SS provides a preliminary look at data similar to those that will be available next year from the Census 2000 long form. Several summary state tables are provided with the announcement that can be used by states as indicators of economic progress, including educational attainment, median household income, median value of owner-occupied housing, and percent of people below the poverty level. 



Using the 1991 and 2000 educational attainment data from the Census Bureau, SSTI has prepared the accompanying table revealing each state's relative rank for the percentage of its population over 25 years of age that had obtained at least a Bachelor's Degree in 1991and 2000. The table also presents rankings for the percentage change between the two figures for each state. 

Is the current concentration of effort toward the identification and licensing of intellectual property (IP) the best method to stimulate innovation? In a period seeing increased pressures on public research universities to identify alternate sources of funding, IP opponents may find economic considerations obfuscating the innovation argument: 

The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is the nationwide network of federal laboratories that provides the forum to develop strategies and opportunities for linking the laboratory mission technologies and expertise with the marketplace. More than 700 major federal laboratories and centers and their parent departments and agencies are FLC members. 

The general fiscal condition of state budgets is growing weaker, indicates a preliminary report released August 1 by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). State Budget & Tax Actions 2001 provides information on 46 states included in NCSL's annual survey. The remaining states – Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, and Wisconsin – had budgets that were either not passed or awaiting the governor's approval. 



While the fiscal conditions of states were strong a year ago, they have since been replaced by anemic revenue growth and expanding budget gaps, NCSL reports. As many as 17 states had budget shortfalls during fiscal year (FY) 2001. Another 20 states took measures to reach balanced budgets for FY 2002 due to the slowing economy. States with budget surpluses, 22 in all, were able to make deposits to the rainy day fund or other reserves (12 states), offer greater funding for capital projects (eight states), reduce taxes (six states), and target funding for specific programs (six states). 

The toll a lackluster economy is taking on Wall Street, manufacturing orders, and tech firm profits are well-known facts at this point. Tightening state and local tax revenues are also apparent. For households, less cash usually translates to changes in vacation travel plans and fewer purchases of luxury items, like bigger cars, expensive jewelry and – Internet access? 



Recent netScore Internet Traffic reports by comScore Networks, Inc. and Diameter reveal a five-percent decline in U.S. Internet usage over the past two months. While U.S. Internet traffic originating from colleges and universities is expected to drop off each summer, increases in household and business Internet use have historically more than made up for the decline. But not this year. In fact, household usage dropped in both June and July. 

Ohio businesses experienced a 15 percent increase in overall Internet and website usage between 1999 and 2000, according to the 2001 report released by ECom-Ohio — a public-private collaborative project to increase Ohio's readiness for global electronic commerce. 



In Assessing Ohio's Readiness for Global Electronic Commerce, Ohio is said to have extensive connectivity infrastructure. Between May 2000 and June 2001, Ohio's network connectivity increased by more than 150 percent. Ohio's four "cybercities"– Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton – place it among the best connected states in the U.S., the report holds. Overall, Ohio cities saw the total bandwidth available increase by more than 400 gigabits per second since May of 2000. At least 20 cities witnessed more than 100 percent growth in capacity, with 12 new cities said to have network connectivity capacity of 45 megabits per second or more. 

The National Science Foundation has published Federal Funds for Research and Development: Detailed Historical Tables: Fiscal Years 1951-2001. The five-volume report includes seven tables (55-61) that present the data by state for the period 1970-1999. Federal R&D obligations are characterized by industrial, university, nonprofit, FFRDC and intramural performers. Only available online, the report can be downloaded at http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf01334/pdfstart.htm 

The latest monthly update from http://www.econdata.net, an excellent portal for regional economic development related data on the web, included the following table prepared by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The table presents the top 100 cities based on the total value of NIH research and development grants, contracts and training awards made in FY 2000. The funding may have been provided to a number of different organizations, companies, academic institutions, government agencies, or individuals located within the cities. 



Boston led the list with $1,078,198,949. New York City was a distant second at $865,191,623. Number 100, with more than $21 million in NIH research funding was Athens, Georgia. Cities in approximately 40 states made the list. The complete table is available at: http://silk.nih.gov/public/cbz2zoz.@www.cities.top100 

On July 16, both houses of Wisconsin’s state Legislature passed a state budget including numerous incentives for technological development. The budget covers state spending for a two-year period that began July 1. Gov. Scott McCallum has until August 30 to approve the budget; several of the tech-related items were in the Governor's first state of the state and executive budget addresses. See the February 23, 2001 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest for a related story: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2001/022301.htm

Highlights include:

Despite many indications that show strong potential for growth, Southern California's bioscience industry still faces challenges, according to a new report from the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance (larta). Released July 19, Heart of Gold: The Bioscience Industry in Southern California highlights the strengths of the region's industry and honestly assesses the ways that the industry can overcome its weaknesses. The report was created to present a full 

and objective overview of the industry through analysis of data from numerous sources, interviews with leaders of the biosciences industry, and insights from bioscience publications.

Tom Murphy says when he first took office as Mayor of Pittsburgh in January 1994, the city was suffering from one of the worst inferiority complexes in its history. To be sure, Pittsburgh once was known first and foremost as being the capital of steelmaking in the U.S. By 1994, the devolution of U.S. steelmakers during the past 25 years had taken its toll on the steel city, physically, economically and psychologically.



Boy, have things changed in seven years! Rightfully proud of what has been accomplished and demonstrating the city's top-level commitment to being competitive in a tech-based economy, Mayor Murphy will lead SSTI's upcoming Policy In Practice tour of Pittsburgh's revitalization on September 19.