SSTI Digest

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.  On a per capita basis, the report positions Cincinnati as the nation's leader in broadband availability with 85 percent of the city's population having…

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  Free e-subscriptions to EconData's Monthly Update, as well as easy access to a host of data sources, can be secured through http://www.econdata.net/ 

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: $18 million in bonding authority for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s BioStar Initiative through June 2003, with potential for another $140.5 million through July 2009. This money would help finance a new genome center and genetics laboratory and three new buildings for microbial sciences, biochemistry and interdisciplinary biology at UW-Madison. Nearly $8.7 million for information technology and biotechnology courses for the Chippewa Valley Initiative and 10 UW System campuses. $1.5 million for TechStar, a consortium of universities, businesses…

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. In its research, larta found the region has a vast amount of resources available to develop the industry but that these assets have yet to “pull together cohesively to create a leading center or bioscience development.” Some Digest readers may be surprised to learn the report also found the area suffers from the same brain drain of research talent bemoaned by other areas of the country. In addition, Heart of Gold…

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. The foundation and unifying theme on which Pittsburgh's successful transformation is based – and true of any effective tech-based economic development effort – is an enduring commitment to public-private partnership at several different levels: state, local and regional governments, research institutions, community leaders, business and industry,…

The House Small Business Committee approved H.R. 1860 this week, legislation that amends and reauthorizes the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. STTR funds cooperative research and development projects between small companies and research institutions such as universities or federally funded R&D laboratories. H.R. 1860, as amended, increases the percentage of R&D funds earmarked for this program from 0.15 percent to 0.3 percent beginning in 2004, thus doubling the support for small high-tech firms. The Senate version of the STTR reauthorization would increase the program set-aside to 0.3 percent beginning in 2004 and 0.5 percent for fiscal year 2007 and each fiscal year thereafter. An amendment offered by Representative Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), the ranking minority member of the committee, and approved by the full committee, reopens the design and intent of the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST), a new program to support state efforts to assist companies in developing and commercializing technologies through federal programs such as STTR and the much larger Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The Small Business…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has posted its selections for the FY 2001 Phase I solicitation of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. Using information obtained from Ruth Lange of the USDA SBIR Program Office and the USDA website, SSTI has prepared the accompanying table presenting the state-by-state distribution of proposals, awards and total funding provided for the Phase I cycle. Phase II information will be available in September, once awards are finalized. The FY 2002 solicitation for the USDA SBIR Phase I cycle is currently open. The deadline to submit proposals for consideration is August 30, 2001. SBIR Phase I grants are limited to $80,000 and a duration of six months. Proposals must address one of nine broad topic areas, which include Forests and Related Resources; Plant Production and Protection; Animal Production and Protection; Air, Water and Soils; Food Science and Nutrition; Rural and Community Development; Aquaculture; Industrial Applications; and Marketing and Trade.  The Rural and Community Development…

Birmingham, Alabama A $90 million building and as many as 2,000 more jobs are in the works for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, reported The Associated Press July 25. Construction costing up to $125 million would provide more than 1.4 million sq. ft., doubling the university’s research space. The new building is among the university’s plans for an additional three buildings that would add up to 500,000 sq. ft. and 2,000 jobs. The announcement of the building follows Gov. Don Siegelman’s $35 million recent pledge to build the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Institute — an 11-story building and $90 million project expected to create 1,400 jobs. School officials anticipate the project also will create $100 million in new research dollars annually. Franklin, Virginia Local officials in Franklin have announced plans including $2.3 million in renovation costs to develop a business incubator center, according to a July 19 article in the Virginian Pilot. State and federal grants will help fund the renovation of nearly 40,000 sq. ft. on four floors…

The DOEd Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research invites applications for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 awards under the following programs. More information is available under the July 31 announcements of the Federal Register: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/ Research Fellowships Program Approximately 10 awards, up to $45,000 each, are available to build research capacity by providing support to perform research on the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities. Eligibility requirements for each of two fellowships, Merit Fellowships and Distinguished Fellowships, include: (a) Only individuals are eligible to receive fellowships. (b) Any individual who has training and experience that indicate a potential for engaging in scientific research related to the solution of rehabilitation problems of individuals with disabilities is eligible. The deadline for applications is October 9, 2001. Field-Initiated Projects The purpose of this program is to (a)…

One of the few new spending bills to make it through the 2001 session of the Minnesota Legislature provides $10 million in seed money for technology commercialization through a new Biomedical Innovation and Commercialization Initiative (BICI – pronounced beach-ee). The BICI appropriation is contingent upon state economic development officials securing a three-to-one private sector match. BICI is a collaborative economic development initiative involving the State of Minnesota, the University of Minnesota and the state’s medical research institutions, companies and investors. It establishes a commercial enterprise – independent of both the university and state government – to bridge the gap between academic basic research and the commercialization of new technologies. The explicit mission of BICI is to identify and invest in biomedical ventures that have long-term commercial development potential. It targets biomedical research at the University of Minnesota’s Academic Health Center, the area of academic basic research that has the most immediate commercial…

Ohio Governor Bob Taft last week signed legislation creating the Ohio Aerospace and Defense Council to examine state and federal laws, rules, and policies that affect the two industries and associated federal installations in Ohio. Ohio is home to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the state’s largest single-site employer, and the NASA Glen Research Center in Cleveland. Six objectives are to be addressed by the council: to increase federal funding for research and development conducted at federal installations in the state; to increase, where appropriate, the operational presence of defense and aerospace activities within the state; to create and improve economic opportunities for aerospace and defense companies and their workers; to advise the Governor, the General Assembly and other key state officers of the policies and activities needed to achieve the council’s goals; to encourage collaboration between Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the NASA Glenn Research Center on projects of major strategic importance to the Department of Defense and NASA;…