SSTI Digest

Rosalie Ruegg has retired from her position as the Director of the Economic Assessment Office for the Advanced Technology Program in the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

On April 19, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court cleared the way for the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund to begin operations with a unanimous ruling that the funding mechanism is constitutional. Between 1998 and 2003, the Trust, managed by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, will receive about $150 million to accelerate the use of cleaner sources of electricity and to invest in the development of the renewable energy industry in Massachusetts. In subsequent years, the Trust will receive about $20 million a year.

As an outgrowth of electric utility deregulation, the Trust was created in 1998 by the legislature to promote the development of renewable energy in the Commonwealth through a series of initiatives that exploit the advantage of renewable energy in a more competitive marketplace. The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative was selected by the legislature to lead this effort.

More than 240 of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers, including 14 Nobel laureates, will begin sharing their passion for discovery with middle school students across the nation as a result of the “Scientists and Engineers in the Schools” program. Announced last week, the program is a new initiative of the National Science Foundation.

Last Friday, Governor Tommy Thompson signed into law Senate Bill 429, establishing the Wisconsin Technology and Entrepreneurs Council (WITEC). The nonprofit corporation is to promote and support the creation, development, and retention of science-based and technology-based businesses “through the establishment and implementation of programs that focus on various elements that are important for the success of high-technology firms, such as entrepreneurs, seed and venture capital, universities and state government."

The Wisconsin Department of Commerce is required to organize and assist in maintaining WITEC, including providing a one-time grant of $50,000 for start up expenses. Commerce may provide additional funding on a matching basis. The total maximum Commerce contributions to WITEC are limited to $250,000 in any fiscal year.

Purdue University plans to seek $15 million in matching funds from the state to establish and support five technology business incubators or regional technology centers around Indiana. The state also will be asked to provide $6.25 million in funding for administrative support over the first four years of the centers’ operations.

The focus for each center would depend on the region of the state and the potential that exists within that region. Purdue's plan calls for each regional technology center to create an advisory committee to establish criteria for use of its services and to evaluate each company's potential for growth and success. Each center would be expected to work in partnership with Purdue during the developmental years of the program.

Science and technology issues are well positioned on the radar screen of many governors, based on SSTI review of more than 50 gubernatorial addresses. In SSTI's latest issue brief, Science, Technology and the Governors: Excerpts from the 2000 Gubernatorial Addresses, SSTI compiles 117 excerpts across a range of S&T concerns: new initiatives, biotechnology, university research capacity, the New Economy, e-commerce, technology-related tax credits, seed and venture capital, information technology and workforce development.

Six technology-related programs are among the 96 semifinalists for the 2000 Innovations in American Government Awards. The award, which recognizes innovation and effectiveness in public sector programs, has become one of the most prestigious public-service honors in the country. Innovations in American Government was established in 1986 by the Ford Foundation and is administered by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Announced last week, the 96 semifinalists were selected from more than 1,300 nominees across all levels of government. Twenty-five finalists will be named in late summer. The 10 top finalists each will receive $100,000; the remaining 15 will receive $20,000 a piece.

Technology-related semi-finalists include:

In February, the US Patent and Trademark Office released a table of all patent activity in 1999 by state, and the percentage change by state over 1998 activity. Nationally, patents grew by 3.7 percent between 1998 and 1999. The ten states that showed the greatest growth in patent activity are (percentage change from 1998 is provided in parentheses): Puerto Rico (57.1%), Idaho (40.6%), South Dakota (36.8%), Kentucky (25.7%), Arkansas (22.8%), Kansas (22.5%), Wyoming (18.4 %), Iowa (13.8%), Tennessee (11.6%) , and Alabama (11.1%).

The complete table can be found on page three of the 1999 Patenting Trends paper, downloadable at: http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/pattr99.pdf

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

On April 25, Governor Parris Glendening signed 12 acts of the state legislature dealing with information technology and technology-based economic development. Of particular interest is HB 1209 which makes several revisions to the Maryland Science, Engineering, and Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO).

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.

As a result, NASA is now circulating a white paper soliciting suggestions on how to implement programs of NASA/university cooperation along the following six themes:

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.

The three-year program, Invented Here: Towards an Innovation-Driven Southern Economy, is designed to assist Southern states in leveraging scarce resources to build dynamic, sustainable economic growth.

Invented Here will help each Southern state in determining where it stands in the innovation-driven economy, developing a strategic plan, and establishing a set of benchmarks for improving its position. Specifically, Invented Here will:

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