SSTI Digest

California is considering expanding its network of Regional Technology Alliances (RTA), which is a component of the Goldstrike Partnership. The Goldstrike Partnership, a program of the California Trade and Commerce Agency's Office of Strategic Technology (OST), supports the development, application, and commercialization of technology to create jobs, respond to industry changes, and foster competitiveness.

The program’s goal is to leverage existing regional, state, and federal resources to maximize assistance in the formation and growth of technology-based firms. The RTA model is an industry driven, non-profit private/public partnership. There are currently three RTAs, located in the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, and San Diego. OST is looking to establish a statewide network of RTAs that develop and manage technology based industry-driven initiatives.

Nearly 70,000 manufacturers received services from the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) from July 1995 through December 1997, according to a new report released by MEP.

Client reported impacts for projects closed from June 1996 to May 1997 increased for the short-term competitiveness indicators compiled by the program. These indicators include: sales ($187 million); labor savings ($8.9 million), material savings ($7.3 million), inventory savings ($25 million), client investment in modernization ($135 million); jobs created (2,095); and jobs retained (3,011).

Two of the state-wide issues Oklahomans will decide on November 3 would allow major changes in the way the state conducts technology transfer activities. The purpose of the initiatives is to promote the commercialization of university research and support university innovation.

Under current Oklahoma law, public property can only be used for public purposes. Passage of State Question 680 would make an exception for use of public property for certain projects that involve research and development of a technology. A state college or university would be able to let a business use its property to work on technology projects, especially those linked to the institution.

A new report issued by the Council on Competitiveness maintains that the U.S. must have a strong, sustained commitment to investment in science and technology to maintain its global competitiveness. In Going Global: The New Shape of American Innovation, the Council focuses on support for basic research, the need for a skilled talent pool, and favorable legal, regulatory and accounting rules to promote U.S. innovation as three key factors for innovation.

The Council looked at several major changes in the global market that have a significant impact on the way companies do business. Those changes include:

Mainers will vote on Election Day on a research and development bond issue that if passed would allocate $20 million to improve the Maine economy by supporting innovative research and development in the fields of biotechnology, computers and other information technology, aquiculture and marine technology, forestry and agriculture, and advanced materials.

If passed, funding from the bond issue would be allocated to the following:

Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships announces a competition for U.S. citizens in leadership positions with significant professional experience (10-20 years) for Fellowships to:

• Hungary: Technology in education, economy, and communications; and, 
• Malaysia: Computer technology and systems in education; science and technology policy; and, telecommunications policy.

Fellows will meet with top level authorities in government and business throughout the country for a period of 4-10 weeks.  Benefits include all travel costs and living allowance for Fellow and spouse.

Applications are due November 30, 1998. Applications may be requested from: J. Hartl, Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, 256 S 16th St, Philadelphia, PA 19102; e-mail: jhartl@eef.org; and, fax 215/546-4567.

"State-based organizations have considerable advantages over the federal government in assisting in the commercial development of new technologies including their proximity to the firms that will actually employ new technologies, their close relationships with local university systems, and their ability to focus their efforts," says an extensive policy study recently completed by the U.S. House Science Committee.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP) has issued a request for public comment on several changes to ATP rules.

The most important change would simplify the project selection criteria. Although the new selection criteria will retain the major elements required under the old system, the five project selection criteria, each with different "weights" and lists of subcriteria, will be replaced by a two-part system:

(1) projects will be evaluated for their scientific and technological merit, and

(2) for their potential for broad-based economic benefits, with both parts weighted equally.

The State Science and Technology Institute 1998 Annual Conference, "Science & Technology Programs: Catalysts for Economic Growth," was a success with over 100 S&T professionals from 30 states and the District of Columbia attending. The conference, which was held in

Columbus, Ohio on September 24 and 25, provided practitioners an opportunity to discuss best practices, trends and new developments in technology-based economic development programs.

We would like to extend a special thank you to all who attended the conference and those who participated in the pre-conference workshop and tour. We look forward to another successful conference in 1999.

States spent more than $3 billion on research and development in fiscal year 1995, according to a new National Science Foundation-funded report. The report, the most thorough study ever undertaken of state government R&D expenditures, was conducted by Battelle and the State Science and Technology Institute.

"This report underscores the importance the states have in the nation’s science and technology system," said Richard L. Thornburgh, former governor of Pennsylvania and chairman of the State Science and Technology Institute Board of Trustees. "To put the figure in context, consider that the state amount is greater than the amount the National Science Foundation spent on R&D and more than the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce combined."

Last week President Clinton called on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) to develop recommendations for achieving greater diversity in the United States’ scientific and technical work force.  By 2010, approximately half of America's school-age population will be from minority groups. As stated by the White House, minority participation in science and engineering careers should keep pace with this growing diversity. Currently, only one-eighth of all high school graduates have the math and science preparation that would permit advanced study in a technical field; for under-represented minorities, that fraction is only half as much. The U.S. Department of Labor projects that the demand for computer scientists, systems analysts and other information technology positions will double over the next 10 years, requiring 1.3 million new workers in this area alone.

Innovative manufacturing, plasma and photon processing, and Internet technology will be the focus of three new Centers of Excellence in Virginia. The Commonwealth of Virginia and Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) recently announced the selection of these three new Centers as the second-generation of CIT’s Technology Development Centers program. The new centers will host research and development efforts focused on existing and emerging technologies of importance to the growth of Virginia’s technology industry. The centers will develop technology, apply and commercialize the technology with industry partners and provide a rapid response capability to assist technology-based companies with short-term needs. Thirteen Technology Development Centers (TDCs) have been funded at Virginia state-supported universities since 1986. The TDCs have focused on such areas as fiber optics, composite materials, advanced computer technology, biotechnology and wireless communications. In