SSTI Digest

Describing Maine as making "modest progress" in strengthening its capacity for innovation-driven economic growth, the Maine Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) released on Tuesday The Maine Innovation Index 2002, a report on Maine's performance in the new economy. The Index measures 30 major indicators that, according to the report, are required for successful innovation-driven economic growth. Of the indicators, 13 showed improvement in the past five years, five showed no change, and three decreased. For nine indicators, five-year data is not yet available. Among the report's key findings: The state's public investments in research and development (R&D) have increased from approximately $2.5 million in 1997 to an historic high of $41 million in 2001. Maine's total funding for R&D has experienced an increase in absolute dollars but has remained relatively flat as a percentage of gross state product (GSP). Federal funding for R&D in Maine has increased as a proportion of the GSP since 1995. The state still lags other states but has made…

Voters in Maine passed a bond issue authorizing the state to borrow $5 million for biomedical and marine research and development by Maine-based nonprofit and state research institutions.  The bond issue, one of six approved in the state on Tuesday, passed with 52.6 percent of the votes cast. Biomedical R&D will receive $4 million of the bond monies for projects, including an 80,000-square-foot expansion of Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. The lab expects to add 200 new jobs in connection with the facility's expansion. Marine research activities would receive the remaining $1 million.  According to the Bangor Daily News, a $20 million R&D bond issue passed by Maine voters in 1998 (see the Oct. 9, 1998 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest) has already generated more than $100 million in spinoff benefits, including new jobs, federal research grants and additional industrial R&D contracts.  Return to the top of this page 

Nearly every state legislature annually appropriates some level of funding to support research and development activities in the state's nonprofit, university, and industrial research communities. Few, though, have developed long-term, systematic attempts to measure the impact of those investments. Following a nearly ten-fold increase in the state's investment in research and development over the past six years, Maine legislators requested that the Maine Science & Technology Foundation (MSTF) conduct such an impact assessment. MSTF has until July 2006 to answer three questions posed by the state legislature: How competitive is Maine's sponsored R&D and has it improved over time? What is the impact of Maine's R&D investment on the development of Maine's R&D industry? What is the impact of Maine's R&D investment on the level of innovation and innovation-based economic development? Last week, MSTF released a report for the initial phase of the project. The study, prepared by researchers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and…

To strengthen Maine’s ability to compete in a knowledge-based economy, Governor Angus King proposed last year that the state create a $65 million endowment that would annually purchase and place a laptop in the hands of every seventh grade student in the state. A one-time $50 million state appropriation was to be matched by $15 million in private contributions. Interest off the endowment would have allowed every 7th-12th grader to own a laptop PC by 2007. Sixteen months later, and after considerable revision of the concept by a specially-called Task Force on the Maine Learning Technology Endowment (see February 9, 2001 SSTI Weekly Digest story), the state legislature has authorized a $30 million program to begin. The Governor still plans to pursue $15 million in private and foundation support for the endowment. Rather than giving students computers each year, the endowment will fund the acquisition of Internet-ready laptops that 7th graders can sign out, beginning in the fall of 2002. Eighth graders will be eligible to participate the following year…

The Center for Environmental Enterprise (CEE) in South Portland, Maine announced the hiring of a new executive director. John Ferland assumed leadership of CEE in late April.

In a follow-up to Maine Governor Angus King’s call for every 7th grader to have a laptop computer that they would use in school and could take home, the Task Force on the Maine Learning Technology Endowment has recommended that every student and teacher in the 7th through 12th grades be provided with computers that would be wireless and portable. The computers could be used in the classroom and, pending school district permission, be taken home.  Last year, Governor King proposed spending $50 million to purchase laptops for every 7th grader. In response, the Legislature created a $50 million endowment and created the Task Force to make recommendations for how learning technology could be better incorporated in the classroom.  The Task Force report outlines a phased-in strategy that would start with the 2002-2003 school year. The initial phase would target the 32,500 students and 2,330 teachers at the 7th and 8th grade levels. Expansion to grades 9-12 would be dependent on third-party fundraising or improved revenue and cost projections. Students and teachers…

Editor's Note: This is the fourth installment of excerpts from recent speeches and budget proposals demonstrating the priority governors are placing on tech-based economic development and math & science education. Maine Governor Angus King, FY 02-03 Budget Request, January 5, 2001 http://www.state.me.us/governor/news/index.html A $2.3 million increase during the second year of the biennium for applied research and development through the Maine Economic Improvement Fund at the University of Maine System. ( $5,740,000 in fiscal year 2001-02 and $7,883,500 in fiscal year 2002-03) Increased funding of the Maine Biomedical Research Fund of $2,000,000 in the second year of the biennium. Level funding for the Maine Technology Institute ($6.4 million) and the Maine Science & Technology Foundation ($1.79 million) New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Budget Address, January 22, 2001 http://www.state.nj.us/governor/news/p10123c.html New $10 million Higher Ed/Business and Industry Partnership Fund to…

The Maine Science and Technology Foundation has launched http://www.mainescience.org -- a single website clearinghouse for businesses, researchers, educators, students and the public looking for information on science and technology in Maine. Under the headings of Quest, Brainpower, Happenings, and Commerce, the site: provides the latest science and technology news in Maine; offers an inventory of high technology resources including databases of research capabilities and results; identifies research grant opportunities; lists sources of business financing; lists technology-intensive businesses in the state and showcases some of their successes; contains links to job opportunities in science and technology positions; identifies educational institutions in Maine that offer courses in science and technology-related subjects; and,  provides links to science resources for teachers and educational information for students. The idea for a science and technology information clearinghouse originated in 1997 when a special commission reviewed the state’s high…

The Maine Science & Technology Foundation (MSTF) has issued a request for proposals to conduct an "Initial Evaluation of Maine's Public Investments in Research and Development." The study, to be completed by July 1, 2001, will provide baseline data for the first comprehensive evaluation MSTF is required by law to prepare for the state legislature and Governor by July, 2006. Subsequent comprehensive evaluations are to be completed every five years. The effort will: establish outcome measures considered appropriate by public and private practitioners in R&D and economic development; assess the competitiveness of technology sectors in Maine and the impact of R&D within the state on Maine economic development; and, include recommendations on existing and proposed state-supported R&D programs and activities affecting technology-based economic development. To aid in the design and development of the initial evaluation, MSTF has prepared an Evaluation Guide which provides a framework for addressing the following three questions: How competitive is Maine’s state-…

The Maine Science & Technology Foundation has appointed Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones as statewide director of the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

The Second Session of the 119th Maine Legislature proved to be another watershed event for the state's science and technology sector. More than 20 percent of Maine's appropriated surplus budget was dedicated to increased monies for existing science and technology programs as well as substantial investment in new initiatives. The programs that the Legislature voted to fund include: Maine Biomedical Research Program: $10 million to create the Maine Biomedical Research Fund, which will provide funding to existing not-for-profit biomedical research laboratories to expand and update facilities and purchase new equipment. The fund will also be used to build new biomedical research facilities. Maine Learning Technology Endowment: $30 million for an  endowment to integrate technology into the classroom. This measure grew out of Governor Angus King’s “Lunchboxes to Laptops” proposal that called for an endowment to put laptop computers in the hands of every 7th grade student in Maine. A task force will be appointed to develop a “learning technology plan” that will – upon adoption by…

Arizona Legislation has been introduced to permit one percent of the permanent state trust funds to be invested in economic development projects as authorized by the Arizona Board of Investment. The concurrent resolution, HCR 2033, was referred to several committees for consideration. Another bill under consideration in the Arizona House, HB 2447, would create the Arizona Capital Access Program, a revolving investment fund secured by state tax credits to encourage technology-focused venture capital investments in the state. California Governor Gray Davis has proposed spending up to $300 million over the next four years to create three California Institutes for Science and Innovation on three of the nine campuses of the University of California. According to the Governor's budget request, the funds would be used to create world-class centers for strategic innovation that combine cutting-edge research with training for new scientists and technological leaders. All public funding for the institutes would have to be matched on a 3:1 public:private ratio. The Governor's budget…