SSTI Digest

Our thanks to SSTI Weekly Digest subscriber Chris Brantley of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Inc. <www.ieee.org> for the heads up on this story.

Seeking to strengthen its relationship with academia and industry, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin appointed Spence (Sam) Armstrong, Lieutenant General USAF (retired), as his Senior Advisor. Goldin directed Gen. Armstrong to give first priority to partnerships and cooperation with universities. The urgency of this priority was to establish definite plans for this enhanced relationship in time for Congressional hearings on the 2001 budget and the NASA budget call to its centers for the 2002 plan. The agency also believes closer cooperation with universities will help for recruitment of the best and brightest talent workforce now that the NASA is hiring again.

The Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science is providing the Southern Technology Council (STC) $150,000 in matching funds over three years to help Southern states increase innovation-driven economic development. A major element of the initiative is annual benchmarking of each state's progress in agreed-upon categories, including: industrial composition, entrepreneurial development, globalization, and human resources.

All States

Whether or not to tax e-commerce has become a states’ rights issue. The industry-led Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce has recommended to Congress that it extend the current ban on e-commerce sales taxes for five years; the moratorium is set to expire in October, 2001. While governors in several states have been vocal in their opposition of any e-sales taxes, 42 governors have submitted a joint letter to Congress blasting the ban as a special interest tax break that interferes with state sovereignty. More information is available from the National Governors’ Association web site: http://www.nga.org/Releases/PR-12April2000Internet.asp

The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) is seeking proposals to evaluate Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT). EPSCoT was established by Congress in 1998 to improve the technological competitiveness of the states that have historically received less federal R&D funding than a majority of states.

Alan P. Balutis, a 21-year veteran with the U.S. Department of Commerce, to be director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program. Balutis has been serving as the deputy chief information officer for the Department of Commerce since 1994.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Institutes of Health have published lists of inventions that are owned by the federal government and are available for licensing. Foreign patent applications may be filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for companies and may also be available for licensing.

Alan P. Balutis, a 21-year veteran with the U.S. Department of Commerce, to be director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program. Balutis has been serving as the deputy chief information officer for the Department of Commerce since 1994.

Anna Darin has been named the executive director of the Council of Development Finance Agencies (www.cdfa.org) 

President Clinton has announced his nomination of Dr. Mildred S. Dresselhaus to serve as Director of Energy Research at the Department of Energy. Dr. Dresselhaus is currently a professor in the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Technology Innovation Centers (TICs), defined broadly to include incubators, business support programs and web services, direct providers, and facilitators/gatekeepers, can be successful instruments for technology-based economic development if done properly, according to the San Diego Regional Technology Alliance's recent report Technology Innovation Centers: A Guide to Principles and Best Practices. The report provides public and private organizations with key tools for getting their technology innovation center off to the right start.

The Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics of the Department of Defense seeks comments on the department’s design for the new Challenge program. This program, required in the FY 2000 National Defense Authorization Act, is designed to increase the adoption of innovative technologies in acquisition programs. Consistent with a 1997 Defense Science Board study, the Challenge program design team has found that there is little competitive pressure -- in fact, there are internal disincentives -- for prime contractors to adopt outside, innovative technologies into an acquisition program after award has been made. The Challenge program, then, would foster competition among alternative technological approaches and suppliers wherever possible in the development of subsystems of DOD acquisition programs and to create other incentives and opportunities for insertion of new technology throughout the acquisition cycle.