SSTI Digest
OSTP Shares Views on R&D Budget Battle
Saying Congress is threatening to stall "our progress toward our shared national goals and toward balance in a healthy R&D portfolio," Neil Lane, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, has issued a mid-summer status report on the FY 2001 R&D appropriations. The report outlines the effect of the current appropriation scenario on the President's civilian R&D goals, collectively marketed as the 21st Century Research Fund. An agency-by-agency break out is provided of congressional funding levels versus the President's FY 2001 requests. The brief report and accompanying letter from Lane can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/OSTP/html/00810.html
Congress will consider the budget appropriations when it returns after Labor Day from its August recess.
Recent Reports & Studies: Milken Institute: Blueprint for a High-Tech Cluster
Using the microsystems industry in the Southwest as a model, Ross DeVol, Director of Regional and Demographic Studies of the Milken Institute, has written Blueprint for a High-Tech Cluster, a 40-page policy brief on one of the hottest trends for tech-based economic development. Recognizing the importance of technology and knowledge in the New Economy, and that "knowledge is generated, transmitted and shared more efficiently in close proximity," DeVol asserts that those regions with leading clusters in key technologies will enjoy greater economic growth and stability. "Success in creating high-tech clusters is now the distinguishing determinant in regional vitality," states DeVol.
Blueprint outlines and describes ten specific strategies for developing a high-tech cluster:
Recent Reports & Studies: Kortum & Lerner: The Relationship of VC to Innovation
Using patent filing and quality as a measure of innovation, “a dollar of venture capital appears to be about three times more potent in stimulating patenting than a dollar of traditional corporate R&D,” according to a July 2000 paper by Samuel Korton (Boston University) and Josh Lerner (Harvard University). The authors report in Assessing the Contribution of Venture Capital to Innovation that, although venture capital averaged less than three percent of corporate R&D from 1983-1992, it was responsible for almost eight percent of US industrial innovations during the same time period.
Recent Reports & Studies: GAO Finds Big Problems in NIH Royalty Income
With the rapid expansion of the research budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the high profile role of biotechnology in the New Economy, concerns have been raised in Congress as to whether or not NIH was keeping up on licensing and royalties. At the request of Congressmen Tom Bliley and Fred Upton, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has reviewed NIH’s internal controls. The results, reported in Financial Management: Improvements Needed in NIH’s Control over Royalty Income (GAO/AIMD-00-210), are less than positive:
Recent Reports & Studies: Bayer Survey Shows Strong Public Support for S&T
Americans say they take pride in our nation's leadership role in science and technology and believe the U.S. needs to continue investing in scientific research and development (R&D) in order to remain at the forefront of discovery and innovation, according to a Gallup survey conducted on behalf of the Bayer Corporation in partnership with the National Science Foundation. At the same time, many Americans also expressed concern about whether our educational system is preparing students for the challenges that accompany new technologies.
The results of The Bayer Facts of Science Education VI: Americans' Views on Science, Technology, Education and the Future are consistent with the flurry of state S&T activities over the past twelve months and may help provide some directional push for future initiatives:
Recent Reports & Studies: NSF: Environmental Science & Engineering for the 21st Century
"How we view -- and treat -- the environment is a critical question for the 21st century," begins the letter from Eamon Kelly, chair of the National Science Board, that accompanies Environmental Science and Engineering for the 21st Century: The Role of the National Science Foundation. The study outlines the scope of the $600 million in current NSF environmental activities and conveys policy guidance for NSF to design a future $1.6 billion portfolio of programs and initiatives. Twelve recommendations are described in detail, including, in addition to the increased funding for NSF:
New Technology Demonstration Center Opens
The U. S. Department of Commerce Technology Administration (TA) has announced the establishment of a joint public-sector private-sector Technology Demonstration Center. The purpose of the Center will be to demonstrate state-of-the-art and future technological advances in a variety of technologies and to encourage future development. The Center is a joint activity, conducted under the auspices of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements between TA and one or more private sector parties. TA will not be providing financial assistance through the center. Nor will the center be used for sales of merchandise, solicitations, orders or for the advertisement of specific products or services. The Center will be physically located at the United States Department of Commerce's Herbert C. Hoover Building, in Washington D.C.
Companies Sought for VC Conference
Companies seeking venture capital investments through the Great Midwest Venture Capital Conference have until August 25 to apply for consideration. The conference, this year taking place October 30-31 in Knoxville, Tennessee, annually draws around 200 investors and other financial professionals. The tenth annual event is organized by the Indiana Business Modernization and Technology Corporation and Technology 2020, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Additional information on the event can be found at: http://www.gmvcc.com
Federal Tech Transfer Opportunities
The National Institutes of Health, the Departments of Energy, and the Navy have announced a total of 46 inventions available for license. The invention titles, descriptions, and contact information is provided on the following SSTI web page: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/081800t.htm
NYSTAR Completes First Strategic Plan
With significant emphasis on academic research and commercialization, the New York Office of Science, Technology, and Academic Research (NYSTAR) has provided Governor George Pataki its first strategic plan. The $130 million NYSTAR, which absorbed the functions of the NY State Science and Technology Foundation, was formed in 1999 as a result of the state’s Jobs 2000 legislation (see the 12/3/99 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest).
The plan calls for several new academic initiatives:
NSF Awards $45 Million to Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
The next U.S. supercomputing system operating at speeds well beyond a trillion calculations per second will reside at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) through an expected $45-million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Last week, the National Science Board (NSB), NSF's governing body, authorized the three-year award following a national competition. Pending negotiations between NSF and PSC, the Terascale Computing System (TCS) would begin operation in February 2001, reaching peak performance by the end of that year.
The TCS will be incorporated into the NSF Partnerships for Advanced Computational Infrastructure program as a third leading-edge site, joining the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at Urbana, Illinois and the San Diego Supercomputer Center in California. Computational scientists and engineers across the U.S. will access the TCS through a nationwide grid of research networks.
Eisenhower Regional Math & Science Consortia Awards
Ten multi-state consortia have been selected to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education through the FY 2000 competition of the Eisenhower Regional Mathematics and Science Education Consortia Program. Each consortia will receive $1.47 million in the first year and $1.475 million annually for years 2-5 of the award.
The consortia program supports a regional and national technical assistance and dissemination system that focuses on mathematics and science education to help build the capacity of states and schools to implement their school reform initiatives. Grantees also help coordinate federal, state and local education plans and activities, and assist educators to adopt, adapt and implement promising and exemplary practices for improving teaching and learning.
The awardees are: