SSTI Digest

Texas' Science and Technology Council recently released a science and technology strategic plan. The Council's vision is to make Texas the nation's leader in science and technology in the 21st century. The plan's premise is that technology is the economic force driving much of the state's current wealth and job creation. The report develops a series of recommendations with the intent of developing the research capacity and human resources Texas will need to ensure economic prosperity in the next century. Much of the plan's focus is on human resources. However, two of the Council's recommendations would make significant changes to the state's technology-based economic development activities. The Council recommends in the report that the Advanced Research Program and Advanced Technology Program (ARP/ATP) receive an increase in funding. The current funding level of $60 million per biennium was established in 1985 when the program was created. The Council recommends the program be appropriated $90 million per biennium to foster the continued promotion of advanced research in Texas' universities.…

Wyoming has begun the process of restructuring its economic development programs. Nine state programs and boards will be transferred to the Wyoming Business Council by July 1. The Council, created by the legislature earlier this year, is a 15-member private sector board of directors that will direct economic development activities in Wyoming. Governor Jim Geringer announced the board appointments earlier this month. Programs and boards designated to be transferred to the Council by July 1 include: Science, Technology and Energy Authority Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center's Industrial Advisory Board and Partner Steering Committee Agriculture promotion and marketing division of WY Dept. of Agriculture Division of Economic and Community Development in Dept. of Commerce Tourism and state marketing of Department of Commerce Economic and Development Stabilization Board Travel Commission Investment Fund Committee Small Business Development Centers Advisory Board   The Council's CEO and staff will operate a central office and several regional offices,…

College tuition rates and a state's success at retaining its high school graduates for college attendance — both of which can be affected by state policy makers and university administrators — are strong predictors of a state's success in keeping its own recent college science and engineering graduates and in attracting graduates from other states, according to a study from the Southern Technology Council (STC). The report, entitled Where Have All the Students Gone? Interstate Migration of Recent Science and Engineering Graduates, focuses on the role of those graduates in state economic development and, in particular, what factors may predict their migration patterns and put certain states or regions at a disadvantage. As competition for high-tech personnel becomes increasingly fierce, corporations and governments alike are looking for answers to a complex question: How do we stop the "brain drain?" Recent science and engineering graduates can make huge contributions to state and national economies, both in terms of human resources for existing high-tech businesses and often as…

The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) is sponsoring a workshop entitled "Building University Engines for Academic Excellence, Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneurship." The workshop will he held on May 30, 1998 in Philadelphia, PA. The keynote speaker will be Michael Hooker, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Among the programs featured are Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Northwestern University, University of Texas at Austin, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Maryland. More information on the workshop is available on NBIA's website at www.nbia.org/ conf/conf.htm or by calling 740/593-4331.

A recently released data brief from the National Science Foundation, entitled Six States Account for Half of the Nation's R&D, analyzed the distribution of research and development activity by state and found most of the activity is concentrated in a small number of states. As the data brief reports, six states—California, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas (in decreasing order of magnitude)— account for half of the nation's R&D. California's level of R&D expenditures was $36 billion and represented approximately one-fifth of the $177 billion U.S. total. The top ten states (adding, in descending order, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio) accounted for nearly two-thirds of the national effort. The 20 highest-ranking states in R&D expenditures accounted for approximately 85 percent of the U.S. total. The lowest 20 states accounted for five percent. NSF also examined the states' R&D activity in relation to the size of their economies as measured by the Gross State Product. The proportion of their economies devoted to R&D activities…

The grand opening on April 9 of a new technology education center in the Seattle area marked a milestone for the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program. The new Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies (NWCET) is the second major ATE center NSF has supported in the fields of information technology and telecommunications. NSF has funded 10 other such ATE programs on a smaller scale around the United States. NSF initiated the ATE Program in 1994 in an effort to meet the education needs of the high- performance workplace through education programs at two-year and community colleges. The ATE program supports projects in instructional materials and curriculum development; laboratory development and enhancement; faculty and teacher enhancement and preparation; and technical experiences for students. The awards cover a wide range of advanced technological education fields including biotechnology, environmental technology, computer and information systems technology, chemical technology, manufacturing technology, electronics, geographic information systems…

The Illinois 1997 High Tech Yearbook is a first-ever annual report documenting the people, organizations and infrastructure driving the high technology industry in Illinois. The report was recently released by the Illinois Coalition and KPMG Peat Marwick, in cooperation with the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago. The Yearbook is the latest addition to a growing number of states or regions that are developing technology indexes. The state's science and technology strengths are highlighted in the yearbook through a series of indicators tracked by the Illinois Coalition. The indicators identify and explain the ingredients and dynamics of Illinois' technology economy. According to the report, in 1984 Illinois was tenth in the U.S. for the size of its technology economy. Today, it is fourth. The following outline some of the key indicators the report highlights: Level of R&D spending by industry, universities, federal laboratories and non-profit research centers Illinois' share of federal R&D funding Number of patents issued Venture capital investment…

BUT AGREE MORE INFO, DATA NEEDED ON IT LABOR The General Accounting Office recently released its comments on a U.S. Department of Commerce study of the availability of information technology workers. The GAO reviewed the methodology used by Commerce in preparing its 1997 report America's New Deficit: The Shortage of Information Technology Workers, and determined that there were "serious analytical and methodological weaknesses that undermine the credibility of its conclusion that a shortage of IT workers exists." GAO states that its criticisms "should not necessarily lead to a conclusion that there is no shortage. Instead, as the Commerce report declares, additional information and data are needed to more accurately characterize the IT labor market now and in the future." In response, the Department of Commerce observed that its report was "an initial attempt to stimulate discussion on an issue with potentially serious implications for U.S. competitiveness. It was never intended to be an exhaustive analysis of the IT labor market." Commerce argues that for GAO to reach…

A bill that would revise Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) provisions has passed the House Subcommittee on Technology. The amended version of the Technology Transfer Commercialization Act of 1997 (H.R. 2544) now moves to the House Science Committee for further consideration. The bill would amend the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 by revising the requirements regarding a CRADA. Specifically, the bill would repeal provisions relating to restrictions on the licensing of federally owned inventions and replace them with new provisions which, among other things, would: *Leverage the existing technology transfer rules by allowing federal laboratories to include already existing patented inventions in a CRADA to enhance chances for commercialization; *Revise public notification requirements to 30 days in order to be able to license federal inventions, and exempt from public notification requirements the licensing of inventions to companies participating in CRADAs; *Authorize in some instances federal agencies to grant exclusive or partially…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Research and Development has produced a publication entitled Guide to Technology Commercialization Assistance for EPA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Awardees. Although designed to assist EPA SBIR award winners, most of the information is relevant to small technology businesses and entrepreneurs. The commercialization assistance guide presents information on various programs and organizations that offer technical and financial assistance, as well as information and other resources, to small businesses and entrepreneurs. Some of the programs are specific to SBIR awardees, while others are open to any company that qualifies for the assistance. The programs, organizations, and sources described in the guide fall into the following four categories: Programs sponsored by the federal government; Programs/organizations that are organized at the state or local level and targeted toward companies in that state or area (these programs are not necessarily funded by the state); Private programs/…

Representative James P. Moran (D-VA) recently introduced a package of five bills that he feels would help address the critical shortage of information technology workers that the United States currently faces. As reported in the January 23, 1998 issue of the Digest, the Information Technology Association of America predicts that there are approximately 346,000 unfilled information technology jobs in the country today due to a shortage of qualified workers. H.R. 3270, the Regional Skills Training Alliances Act of 1998, is modeled after the Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP). It directs the Secretary of Commerce to make available through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) competitive grants to improve the job skills necessary for employment in specific industries. The bill would authorize $50 million per year to NIST for the next three fiscal years to operate a competitive challenge grant for industry-led regional skills alliances. The federal funds would be matched by state, local or industry funds. The money could be spent by the industry alliances on a wide…

Nearly 150 American leaders launched a two-year initiative last week in the hopes of speeding the development of new technology. The initiative is the result of the National Innovation Summit sponsored by the Council on Competitiveness and held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Attendees included Vice President Al Gore, House Science Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, CEOs of numerous corporations, university presidents, labor leaders, and others. Summit participants agreed that the U.S. talent pool will be the nation's single greatest vulnerability over the next decade. They were similarly concerned about the future of the national research base. However, they were optimistic about the nation's capital availability, market vitality and access to international markets. Participants set long and short term priorities to strengthen each area, stressing in particular the use of standards to improve K-12 performance, increasing federal support for frontier research, expanding risk capital for early stage ventures, and protecting U.S. intellectual property in overseas markets…