SSTI Digest

The National Science Foundation has published online the latest edition of the annual series: Science & Engineering State Profiles: 1998-99. By presenting one-page statistical summaries for each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, Profiles provides rankings, state and US figures for easy reference across 30 science and engineering statistics as well as the distribution of federal R&D obligations by department and performer.  Additionally, the report includes population, per capita income, and workforce figures, permitting easy calculation of per capita statistics and rankings across the states. For example, SSTI has prepared the accompanying 50-state table presenting for comparison the number of patents issued to state residents in 1999, the average number of patents issued per member of the state’s civilian workforce, the average number of patents per doctoral scientists and doctoral engineers in the state, and the R&D dollars spent in the state per patent issued.  Profiles can be downloaded at: http://www.nsf.gov/…

With the 1994 School-to-Work Opportunities Act sunsetting this year and the increasing importance of developing a skilled workforce for a tech-based economy, many are asking if the initiatives launched or expanded by the Act have been successful. According to School-to-Work: Making A Difference in Education, a new report from the Institute on Education and the Economy at Columbia University, early results are encouraging, but there are areas for improvement given the opportunity presented by reauthorization.  To prepare their findings the Institute reviewed the findings and conclusions of more than 130 local, state, regional, and national studies completed on School-to-Work programs. A complete bibliography is included at the end of the document.  Accomplishments  According to the report, employer engagement in school-to-work is at record levels. By 1997, “three years after passage of the Act and before all states had received funding, more than one-quarter of all firms employing 20 or more people were members of…

Two new Governors, Bob Wise of West Virginia and Wisconsin's Scott McCallum, have put tech-based economic development in the forefront of their respective economic agendas. West Virginia In his first State of the State Address, delivered February 14, and the Economic Development Plan released during his campaign for office, Governor Bob Wise outlined several tech-based economic development and education initiatives for the state to pursue immediately. He followed up the address by giving the state assembly several specific legislative proposals. Governor Wise's proposals include: retain the state's brightest high school graduates, fund the state's Promise Scholarship program to provide funancial support for every qualified student to attend the state's colleges, universities and technical training centers create a State Science Camp for high school graduates, modeled on  the month-long National Youth Science Camp <http://www.sciencecamp.org/> reform the West Virginia Capital Company Act to restrict use…

The latest word in the national press regarding the FY 2002 budget President Bush will present to Congress next week suggests President Bush may propose significant cuts in investment in research and tech-based economic development. Many of the programs potentially under fire are instrumental to state and local efforts to promote stronger economic growth through science and technology. A Feb. 15 story in the Wall Street Journal, "White House Is Planning Broad Cuts in U.S. Firm's Government Subsidies" reports the Office of Management and Budget has called business loan and grant programs for technology and economic development "corporate subsidies" that are "unjustified" and "low priority." The article singles out the International Trade Administration, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and parts of the Agriculture Department. After last year's historic 17 percent increase for the National Science Foundation, an article by David Rogers in last Friday's Wall Street Journal, "Bush, Seeking Room for Tax Cuts, Chops Budgets for Science Agencies,"…

Stressing partnerships and flexibility, seven regional and national organizations have drafted an action agenda for the federal government to use to strengthen local and regional economic development efforts. After a brief introduction to the New Economy and its implications for local economic development, Partnership for Prosperity: A Federal Economic Development Policy Agenda includes several specific recommendations of interest to Digest readers: Stimulate markets in underserved areas by improving the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Communities program and the American Private Investment Companies, and by reauthorizing the Community Development Financial Institutions. Partnering with the private sector to close the Digital Divide through new tax incentives, preserving the 1996 Telecommunications Act, and increasing funding for the Technology Opportunities Program, the Economic Development Administration and the Rural Utilities Service in the Department of Agriculture. Removing regulatory barriers in small business by improving the 504 loan program administered by the Small…

Imagine President Bush using his entire State of the Union Address to present a $23 billion five-year strategy to encourage research, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the country. While it has not received much press in the United States, the equivalent happened when Australian Prime Minister John Howard gave his annual Federation Address on January 29. Backing Australia’s Ability: An Innovation Action Plan for the Future is the Howard government’s comprehensive strategy to strengthen the Commonwealth’s position in the global economy. The five-year price tag to the government for the new initiatives is 2.9 billion Australian dollars (US equivalent is $1.56 billion). An additional $6 billion ($3.23 billion US equivalent) in private investment is expected to be generated from the plan. In 2000-01, the country of only 19.3 million people spent $4.5 billion ($2.43 billion U.S. equivalent) on research and innovation programs. For comparison, the $2.9 billion increase is the equivalent in US dollars of committing $81 per person in new funding for tech-based…

The past decade’s economic boom has masked some serious cracks in the foundation of U.S. competitiveness– and it will take a strong policy of local and regional “innovation stimulus” to get the country back on track, says the Council on Competitiveness in U.S. Competitiveness 2001: Strengths, Vulnerabilities and Long-term Priorities. The report, co-authored by Michael Porter, a Harvard Business School professor and leading proponent of cluster-based economic development strategies, and Debra van Opstal, senior vice president at the Council, is one of a growing number to recognize the important role regional development organizations must play in future national innovation and competitiveness policy. While the report highlights the role of innovation as a source of U.S. competitive advantage and a driver of productivity and growth, it warns of the implications of the drop in public investment in research and innovation as a share of national wealth during the past decade. At the press announcement, Porter pointed out, that…

President Bush is expected to release his first budget at the end of the month, and a published report indicates at least one tech program might be slated for significant cuts. The Wall Street Journal in a February 16 article ("Bush Aims to Reduce Digital Divide Funds") reported that their sources indicate the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) may be slashed 65 percent from $42.5 million to $15 million. Established in 1994, TOP promotes the widespread availability and use of digital network technologies in the public and non-profit sectors. 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. Recipients include state, local and tribal governments, health care providers, schools, libraries, police departments, and community-based non-profit organizations More than 800 people attended the program's three technical assistance workshops held during the last two weeks in preparation for…

In what could be the largest private sector commitment yet to a single industry/university research center, Corning, Kodak ,and Xerox have combined to pledge a staggering $45 million toward establishing a Center of Excellence in Photonics and Optoelectronics in Rochester, N.Y. The three corporate giants also committed to help raise another $30 million from other private sector companies for the new partnership involving New York State, higher education, and private enterprise. University partners include the University of Rochester, the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University at Albany, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Alfred University, and Cornell University. The public, academic, and industry partners hope that the new center can position New York as a national leader in optoelectronics-related R&D and job growth, emulating Silicon Valley’s emergence as a hub for the semiconductor industry. More than 91,000 New York residents already are employed in the optoelectronics and imaging industry fields, about 13 percent of the national total. …

Even tech hot spots like San Diego are finding they are not immune from the Digital Divide. In fact, a new report from the San Diego Regional Technology Alliance (SDRTA) finds that the region suffers a wider Internet access divide between Caucasians and Hispanics than the nation as a whole. With Hispanics representing 25 percent of the area’s population, the issue will have future economic repercussions in tech-based entrepreneurship and increasing shortages of workers with tech skills. Mapping a Future for Digital Connections: A Study of the Digital Divide in San Diego County, released earlier this month by SDRTA, is the first in-depth examination of the extent of the Divide within the community. In some respects, the area is in much better shape than the rest of the country. Seventy-three percent of all San Diego households have computers compared to the national average of only 51 percent. And while computer ownership was 20-30 percentage points higher than the national average for every San Diego ethnic group, African-Americans and Hispanics remained twice as likely not…

Over the next three years, Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI) will invest $3 million to support the development of existing and emerging technology-focused industry clusters. The new program is designed to increase collaboration between groups of tech business and the state’s nonprofit research, federal lab, and academic research communities. By focusing on the near-term technology needs of Minnesota businesses, MTI expects the program will lead to increased technology commercialization and high tech employment by the cluster businesses. MTI anticipates making three to five investments each year, with awards reaching $300,000 to $500,000 for qualified cluster proposals. Cluster projects must involve a minimum of four companies and at least one outside research resource, such as a local academic partner, federal lab or private, nonprofit R&D facility. More information on the new program can be found at http://www.minnesotatechnology.org/

Alan Balutis, director of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), is leaving the agency at the end of the month to take over leadership of the Federation of Government Information Processing Councils. Dr. Frederick Humphries, president of Florida A&M University and SSTI Board member, has announced he will retire this summer from the university. Rex Pelto has left the Advanced Technology Program to take the position of Director of Federal R&D & Business Development for Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology. Stefanie Sanford has joined Texas Governor Perry's office as Policy Director for Technology & Telecommunications Tom Unruh has announced he is leaving the National Governors' Association Center for Best Practices.