SSTI Digest

According to a new report by a public-private collaborative project called Ecom-Ohio, Ohio lags many others in the “Net” Economy. The group draws attention to the state’s digital divide among certain population groups and laments slow Internet adoption in small and medium-sized businesses and a lack of public incentives and investment to help correct the situation. The Statewide Report on Ohio’s Readiness for Global Electronic Commerce uses 22 key indicators to measure the state’s performance and preparedness for an information economy against a set of national benchmarks established by the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP) in 1998. CSPP is a coalition of 11 CEOs for some of the nation’s largest information technology companies. The benchmarks and CSPP assessment process helps a locality or region determine at which of four possible stages the community currently resides and what specific steps are necessary to move to the next, higher stage of e-commerce readiness. Ecom-Ohio is believed to be the first statewide application of the CSPP benchmarks. Ecom-Ohio found the overall infrastructure…

Last week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties released a report documenting the 1999 Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) for the nation’s 319 largest metro areas. The 44-page report indicates that 95 percent of high tech job creation between 1992 and 1999 took place in metro areas. The report ranks metro areas relative to each other, and, states and national economies around the world. For example, 48 of the world’s largest 100 economies are US metro areas. The GMP of the ten largest metro areas exceeds the combined output of 31 states. Twenty pages of tables provide statistics and rankings for each metro area. The report can be downloaded from http://www.usmayors.org/citiesdrivetheeconomy/

Last week, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced the findings of Michigan: The High-Technology Automotive State, a new study that demonstrates that the state’s high-tech workforce is dramatically larger than previously reported by national rankings. The MEDC study shows that the American Electronics Association (AEA) uses a narrow definition of high-tech in their annual ranking, Cyberstates 4.0, which was released the next day. Under current AEA reporting guidelines, high technology jobs in the auto industry and other traditional industrial sectors are excluded from the Cyberstates data. According to the new MEDC report, which uses the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics definition of high-tech industries, there are 530,492 high-tech workers in Michigan, compared to 96,013 reported by the AEA. As a result, Michigan’s ranking, viewed as critical by the MEDC to changing the nation’s perception of Michigan as a high-tech center, moves to 4th in the country from 17th in Cyberstates. Ohio and Pennsylvania, among others, also benefit from the new study. Massachusetts, Florida,…

Abstracts for the FY 2000 grant awards for the USDA Small Business Innovation Research Program have been posted on the agency’s website: http://www.reeusda.gov/sbir/ Chris Busch and Jill Kline reported statistics on the distribution of proposals and awards by state in last week’s Wyoming SBIR Initiative Newsletter. For this issue and other archived editions of their resourceful newsletter, visit: http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/sbir/newsletters.htm Commerce The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced it received 662 proposals in response to the 2000 Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) solicitation. Applicants requested $270 million, pledging an additional $430 million is non-federal matching funds. TOP has only $12.5 million available this year for new grants. Award decisions should be announced in September. A complete list of applicants and grants is posted on the TOP website: http://ntiaotiant2.ntia.doc.gov/top/2000info/index.cfm The National Sea Grant College Program and the US Fish and Wildlife Service seek proposals for innovative research,…

Alabama The Alabama Commerce Commission, appointed by Governor Don Seigelman last year, has released an executive summary report of recommendations for a long-range strategic plan for economic development in the state. The Commission recommends the creation of a scholarship program with no minimum grade point average requirements to provide free tuition to high school graduates who enter targeted vocational and technical programs in two year colleges or technical schools. The Commission also recommended the creation of privately run Alabama Research Alliance involving the state’s six research universities. The Alliance would distribute an unspecified amount of funding for research projects designed to produce new products, businesses, and jobs. Arkansas Fiscal worries for 2001 threaten state S&T efforts that were started with unexpected budget surpluses in 1999, according to reports in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The chair of the Joint Budget Committee anticipates potential problems finding more funds in 2001 for the College of Information Science and Systems…

The National Governors' Association has released its third paper in the New Economy Series. Nurturing Entrepreneurial Growth in the New Economy, written by Thom Rubel and Scott Palladino, outlines eleven different approaches states have implemented to encourage entrepreneurship: improving access to capital; providing technical assistance; streamlining securities regulation; improving state regulatory and licensing environments; implementing regulatory reform; building intellectual capacity at state universities; creating industry clusters; improving state tax environments; improving entrepreneurship education; reaching out to entrepreneurs; and recognizing entrepreneurial achievement. Several examples of each approach are described in the 23-page paper. Copies can be downloaded from the NGA website: http://www.nga.org

The Department of the Navy has published a list of 104 inventions that are owned by the federal government and are available for exclusive or partially exclusive licenses. The list and contact information are available for review on the SSTI web site at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/052600t.htm

Sue Rhoades is leaving her role as State Coordinator with Ben Franklin Technology Partners in Pennsylvania to take a position in the private sector. As a result, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners are seeking candidates to fill her position. The posting, as well as several other S&T career opportunities, is available on the SSTI website at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm

Two quarterly surveys of venture capital investments were released during the past two weeks. Both report record levels of venture-backed investments for the first quarter of 2000, in spite of the jittery stock market. While the figures vary between the two surveys, both identify the same investment trends. For instance, both surveys found that among the states, Georgia, Illinois, and New York experienced the greatest growth in deals. Summaries of both reports are provided below.  PricewaterhouseCoopers Moneytree™ Survey  Venture-backed investments in the first quarter of 2000 reached $17.2 billion, surpassing previous quarterly records by $2.6 billion, according to the latest Moneytree™ survey results compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers. First quarter 2000 eclipses the total reported for the entire year of 1998.  The number of companies receiving venture capital funds (“deals” ) during the first quarter of 2000 rose to 1,423 – nearly double the 732 deals reported in the first quarter of 1999. The average size per deal increased 105 percent over a year ago to…

After two years of partisan politics and court battles, the Montana legislature last week overwhelmingly passed HB 1, a $46 million, five-year appropriations package to fund several state science, technology, and economic development initiatives. The legislation brings to close a saga that began with a successful court challenge to the funding mechanism for S&T programs. Governor Marc Racicot called a special session of the legislature this year specifically to address the need for funding.  HB 1 provides $13.3 million for the current biennium ending June 30, 2001, and $8.2 million each fiscal year thereafter until June 30, 2005. The Department of Commerce will receive $12.6 million over five years for 32 specific infrastructure, water, and wastewater projects around the state. The balance of the bill’s appropriations will be divided among the following science, technology, and economic development programs:  A one-time appropriation of $4.4 million for the Board of Regents to use as state matching grants for the EPSCoR programs  A one-time appropriation in FY…

The National Science Foundation has released two statistical reports that present several science and engineering statistics by state:  Federal Science & Engineering Support to Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions for Fiscal Year 1998 Detailed Statistical Tables  The April 2000 report presents 39 tables characterizing federal science and engineering (S&E) obligations to colleges, universities, federally funded research and development centers, consortia, and independent nonprofit institutions. Several present the data by state, including: 1991-1998 federal obligations for S&E, 1991-1998 federal obligations for S&E research and development, 1998 S&E obligations by type of activity, and 1998 S&E obligations by federal agency. Many others present the information for the 100 universities and colleges receiving the largest amount of federal funding. Perhaps, most useful are four tables (B-15-18) that present 1998 S&E and S&E research and development obligations by state and by university or college. The report can be downloaded from:…

The McKnight Foundation has committed $44.5 million over ten years to support scientific research in neuroscience/memory and brain disorders. The McKnight Endowment Fund will support three national fellowship programs: 1) Scholar Awards, which link basic researchers and clinical scientists or physicians who are in the early stages of their careers; awardees receive $75,000 per year for up to three years; 2) Memory and Brain Disorders Awards, which encourage novel applications of neuroscience research to clinical problems related to memory and brain disorders; and 3) Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Awards of up to $100,000 per year for two years to encourage multidisciplinary research and technical innovations. The Endowment Fund is also the sponsor of the annual McKnight Conference on Neuroscience in Aspen, Colorado, organized to share research developments and foster interaction among all the awardees.  More information is available at: http://www.mcknight.org/neuroscience/index.htm