SSTI Digest

This summer, North Carolina joined a growing handful of states and regions that have completed innovation assessments or report cards to aid in the development and implementation of state’s science and technology policies. Tracking Innovation: North Carolina Innovation Index 2000 was released in conjunction with a high-tech cluster analysis and a new S&T strategic plan for the state entitled Mapping the Vision. The plan and index are the culmination of Vision 2030: Science & Technology Driving North Carolina into the New Economy. The Vision 2030 Project was a 15-month effort involving more than 800 people and encompassing several studies, assessments, conferences, task forces, surveys and focus groups. The goal of the project was to both educate and challenge North Carolinians “to begin building the science and technology-based platforms needed to support North Carolina’s economy in the 21st century.” The Innovation Index documents recent trends across more than 50 specific measures in 26 indicators across five categories: performance measurement outcomes, economic structure,…

The first $90 million has been awarded through NSF’s new program Information Technology Research (ITR) initiative. The goal of the program is to build US leadership in information technology (IT) through support of fundamental research and innovative applications of IT. The ITR program is designed to strengthen the nation’s IT knowledge base as well as the IT workforce. Only 210 projects were chosen from the more than 1,400 proposals submitted. Sixty-two large projects, and averaging $1 million per year for three to five years, were funded (involving 41 institutions in 22 states). Each of the remaining 148 projects total $500,000 or less for up to three years; these went to 81 institutions in 32 states. The accompanying table presents the distribution of awards by state. The focus areas for the program are software; scalable information infrastructure; information management; revolutionary computing; human-computer interfaces; advanced computational science; education and workforce; and social or economic implications of IT. One of ITR’s major emphases is on “middleware,” software that…

Earlier this week, Senator Conrad Burns from Montana led an effort to save the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Rural Outreach Program, which allows small businesses in rural America, with help from state and local assistance providers, to play an integral role in federal research programs. The Senate version of the FY 2001 Commerce-Justice-State (CJS) appropriations bill does not include funding for the Rural Outreach Program. Burns and six Senate colleagues asked the author of the CJS appropriations bill to provide $2 million in funding for the Rural Outreach program. Co-signers included Senators Mike Enzi (R-WY), Kit Bond (R-MO), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Burns is the second-ranking Republican on the Senate Small Business Committee. Burns helped create the SBIR Rural Outreach Program in 1997, when he sponsored legislation annually authorizing $2 million for the program. The program, administered by the Small Business Administration, provides matching grants to state and local SBIR assistance efforts in states that…

An educated populace is a key ingredient for a state's success in competing in a knowledge-based economy. Workforce development, digital divide, and income inequalities are all tied to the educational attainment of a population or group within a population. Educational Attainment in the United States, a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau, reveals several positive trends in this area: In March 1999, 83 percent of all adults over 25 years of age reported completing high school; 25 percent reported attaining at least bachelor’s degree. Both are the highest percentages recorded since the survey was first initiated in 1947. The attainment level for the total adult population in the U.S. will continue to rise as the younger age groups, which is more educated than the elderly, continues to mature and replace the older, less educated groups – so long as the attainment levels of the young adults remain constant or increase.  Educational attainment among certain racial and ethnic groups, while growing significantly during the past decade, remained at their 1998 peaks. The…

The Department of the Navy and NASA have each announced three federally-owned inventions that are available for licensing. Invention titles and contact information for each licensing opportunity are posted at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/092200t.htm

Thank you! The overwhelming response to Beyond the Hype: Tools for Building Tech-based Economies has resulted in the conference being sold out. With attendees from 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, SSTI's fourth annual conference promises to be a great one. Please note, there will be no walk-in registration possible at the conference doors. A first for SSTI at the conference will be an on-site bookstore offering nearly 100 of the top titles in technology-based economic development. Subjects covered include: performance measurement, e-commerce, industry-university partnerships, entrepreneurial development and assistance, the innovation process, commercializing technology, biotechnology, venture capital, science and technology policy, and many more. For your convenience, we will be able to process credit card orders on-site and will have several copies of each title on hand for reading during your return flight home. Catalog and website orders from the new expanded bookstore will begin in  October.

The Department of the Air Force will have an exhibit and representatives from two programs, the Dual Use Science and Technology Program (DUS&T) and the Commercial Operations & Support Savings Initiative (COSSI), at SSTI's annual conference. Each offers unique opportunities for technology-related businesses. The goal of the Air Force DUS&T Program is to cost-share research projects with industry for the development of technologies that have military utility and sufficient levels of commercial potential. Successful projects occur when the service and the private sector identify and develop technologies that meet both defense and commercial needs. These projects are undertaken outside of the Federal Acquisition Regulations, utilizing instead, cooperative agreements thereby allaying some fears attributable to concern over property rights. Competition takes place on an annual basis. For more information, visit http://www.afrl.af.mil/dualuse Through COSSI, the military extends the service life and reduces the costs of ownership of its systems by leveraging technologies developed…

In a move designed to significantly improve access to higher education, California Governor Gray Davis signed legislation this week that will significantly expand the state's scholarship programs. Under the new legislation nearly one-third of high school graduates will receive scholarship assistance through the state's Cal Grant program, according to the bill's sponsors. The expansion means that students that maintain a high grade point average and come from middle to low-income families will have their tuition covered by the state of California for all four years of college. Additionally, a new scholarship program was created directed at the state's highest achievers in math and science. Through the legislation, Cal Grant A scholarships will be awarded to financially eligible students with a B (3.0) grade point average (GPA) to be used at public or private four-year institutions. The awards will cover full tuition at California Community Colleges, State Universities, and the University of California or they can be used for up to $9,700 for tuition support at private universities in California. The…

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy in the U.S. Department of Commerce has requested public comments on proposed changes to the rights to inventions made by non-profit organizations and small businesses through cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) between government-owned and -operated laboratory and a collaborating party.  Under the Bayh-Dole Act (Pub. L. 96-517), nonprofit and small business contractors and grantees have the option to retain rights in their inventions in order to facilitate the commercialization of the results of federally funded research. These rights may be limited in exceptional circumstances. For instance, there is a need to limit the rights of certain contractors and grantees in their inventions when they are performing research for the Government under CRADA with a collaborating party as authorized by the Federal Technology Transfer Act (Pub. L. 99-502) (FTTA). If these rights are not limited, the collaborating party would not receive the rights to which it would normally be entitled under a CRADA, which includes the option…

One of the federal government's most potent programs for building tech-based businesses is two weeks away from expiration. Authorization for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is due to expire September 30, and as of today, no date has been set for a House vote to reauthorize the program.  Prior reauthorizations of the SBIR program have been relatively uneventful with passage occurring through voice votes. This year's SBIR reauthorization appeared to be headed on the same course.  After nearly a year of hearings, meetings, and negotiations among congressional members, their staff, and constituents, a bill emerged this summer with strong bipartisan support from both chambers of Congress. This year's reauthorization bill is unique, too, in that it identifies and strengthens the roles state and local economic development organizations should play in making SBIR a more effective program. The bill would create the Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) to encourage technology development and commercialization in small businesses across the country.…

Jon Baron, formerly Manager of the Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, has taken a position as the Director of the Presidential Commission on Offsets.  Vic Johnson, Director for Policy, Planning & Technology in the Louisiana Department of Economic Development (LDED), is taking the position as manager of the Technology Transfer Office of the Louisiana Business & Technology Center. Mark Galyean will be handling Vic’s responsibilities at LDED.  After many years with the variously named New York offices for science & technology, Bruce Layton is moving to Illinois to become the Director of Government Relations for Northwestern University. In addition to working for the New York State Science and Technology Foundation and the New York State Office of Science, Technology, and Academic Research (NYSTAR), Bruce served in a variety of positions with the Science and Technology Council of the States (STCS), most recently as Secretary and keeper of institutional memory.  SSTI wishes Shannon Burnett good luck as she leaves our team to take a…

Jon Baron, formerly Manager of the Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, has taken a position as the Director of the Presidential Commission on Offsets.