SSTI Digest

Coming off a holiday that celebrates workers across the country, today’s labor market is struggling to recover from a peak set in 2000. States whose labor market still hadn’t fully recovered from the Great Recession are facing an even greater economic disadvantage from the pandemic. A new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that the average prime-age employment rate (adults between the ages of 25 and 54 who have jobs) in 24 states had not fully recovered from the Great Recession before COVID-19 hit. The report considers the prime age employment-to-population ratio, which provides a different perspective on jobs than the unemployment rate. That ratio peaked at 81.9 percent in April 2000, and stood at 80.6 in January of this year before diving to 69.7 in April and climbing its way back to 75.3 in August, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data.   “With the recession triggered this year by the coronavirus, the workforce now may have to dig out of an even deeper hole than after the last downturn,” the Pew report notes. The new downturn and the potentially lengthy recovery carry major fiscal implications for states. Lower employment means less tax…

As manufacturers become more reliant on automation, advanced control systems, and remote work, the threat of cyber-attacks with the potential to damage critical infrastructure and even shut down an entire plant’s operations has never been greater. In response to the general lack of preparedness by the manufacturing industry to prevent and react to cybersecurity threats, Manufacturing x Digital (MxD), an advanced manufacturing institute, has released its comprehensive hiring guide for employers, both large and small, to help fill the cybersecurity workforce gap in the manufacturing industry. The Hiring Guide: Cybersecurity in Manufacturing, which brought together more than 25 industry, academic, workforce development and government organizations, identifies 247 cybersecurity-related jobs in manufacturing. “American manufacturing must build a skilled new army to protect our factories, products and intellectual property from cyber-attackers who lurk in the shadows. All manufacturers, no matter their size, have a vested interest in helping develop a strong and resilient cybersecurity workforce," according to MxD CEO Chandra Brown. Among the positions outlined in the…

Over $1 billion has been awarded for the creation of 12 new quantum information services (QIS) and artificial intelligence (AI) research institutes across the country over the course of the next five years, according to an announcement from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation. With this investment, the White House hopes the newly created institutes will “spur cutting edge innovation, support regional economic growth, and advance American leadership in these critical industries of the future.” NSF, alongside the Department of Agriculture, has focused an investment of $140 million towards the development of seven new AI Research Institutes across the country, based primarily on university campuses. NSF predicts that throughout the following year these new research hubs will also draw over $300 million in additional investments. A map of the recently announced Research Institutes, along with details on each Institute’s focus, may be found here. DOE’s awards total $625 million, to be distributed over the next five years, aiming to help establish QIS Research Centers at Argonne,…

The Economic Development Administration’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) released a funding opportunity this morning for a new STEM Talent Challenge. The opportunity provides $2 million in total to governmental and nonprofit entities working to implement STEM apprenticeship models in their regions. Applicants may request up to $300,000 for an 18-24-month project, and no more than $50,000 may go toward planning and development, which should generally be completed within the first six months of the project period. EDA is seeking projects that will expand work-based learning for adults, increase regional innovation capacity, and expand diversity in STEM. OIE will host an informational webinar on Sept. 9, and proposals are due Oct. 14. The STEM Talent Challenge has been authorized for several years, but FY 2020 was the first time the program was funded. As discussed recently in the SSTI Weekly Digest, the House supports increasing funding to $4.5 million in FY 2021.

A recent report by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) found that participation rates in the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs by women-owned small businesses (WOSB) has essentially remained flat since 2011. Although participation rates vary by awarding agency, the report highlights several barriers faced by women entrepreneurs. Despite the gloomy findings, the report features promising practices from entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) that may “right the ship” in supporting women entrepreneurs through the SBIR/STTR program.

Crystal ball forecasts and predictions are growing about the long term impact of the pandemic on U.S. manufacturing, trade and overall global supply chains. The abruptness of the shutdowns within so many countries’ economies, the resulting scarcities of goods, and millions of furloughs and pink slips has generated cause for economic analysts, policy wonks and consumers to study the effect of disruption on global value chains. Increasing occurrence and severity of natural disasters as climate change accelerates along with a growing numbers of cyberattacks adds to the anxiety and attention about just how resilient production systems might really need to become. Risk, resilience and rebalancing in global value chains, a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute, sheds some light on the complex issue, confirming disruption is a growing concern for corporate leaders. Preparing to withstand any of the various types of man-made, economic or natural shocks a company may experience is becoming a regular part of business. Relocating entire production systems or elements of a resource or supply chain is only a small part of the equation for most industries. McKinsey’s…

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is calling on all organizations with an interest in the public face of science to “use the resources at their disposal to support effective science communication and engagement” as part of its third and final installment in a series of reports from an initiative that began in 2016. The Public Face of Science Initiative set out to address the complex and evolving relationship between science and society. Previous reports from the three-year project included public opinion polling on perceptions of science in America (2018) and how people experience science outside the classroom (2019). This final report identifies three high-level areas for change to help shape attitudes toward science and people’s experiences with it. In his letter from the president that accompanies the report, David Oxtoby notes, “The current crisis has underscored the importance of a society in which everyone has equal opportunity to learn from, engage with, and participate in science. However, revenue losses and budget cuts are having an enormous, and still-evolving, impact on the professional writers, educators, museum curators, outreach organizers, and…

The product of a year-long initiative focused on addressing America’s crumbling infrastructure has been released two months early in an effort to help speed the economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative, called Infrastructure: Foundation for Success, identifies four key federal priorities that should be addressed if America is to rebuild its infrastructure. The effort was led by the outgoing National Governors Association chair, Gov. Larry Hogan. It brought together leaders in government, business, and academia to develop solutions in building an innovative, efficient, and resilient infrastructure foundation. Among the priorities presented in the report are recommendations for Congress to provide new tools and resources to help state and local governments bring projects to market and to increase access to private sector capital. To further support the states, NGA recommends that federal investment support the deployment of smart technologies, such as connected public transit or citywide broadband. The report also recommends that broadband and IT infrastructure be expanded across all rural, suburban, and urban communities so that communities can…

Completing a subbaccalaureate program can translate into higher pay and greater employment outcomes compared to those who have no education beyond a high school diploma, but the median salary of those who completed a certificate versus those who did not was the same ($20,000) among students who were no longer enrolled after three years. The results are detailed in a recent brief from the National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education. First-Time Subbaccalaureate Students: An Overview of Their Institutions, Programs, Completion, and Labor Market Outcomes After 3 Years looks at enrollment patterns, 3-year completion rates, and early labor market experiences of students who began in certificate or associate’s degree programs in 2011-12. As such programs are receiving increased interest as a way to train workers displaced by the pandemic, the findings of the brief have greater meaning. The study found that three years after enrolling, 52 percent of 2011-12 certificate students had earned a credential and an additional 11 percent remained enrolled, while 18 percent of associate’s degree students had earned a credential and an additional 40…

[Update Oct. 1] Editor’s note: On Sept. 23, the Biden campaign announced a “Small Business and Entrepreneurship Advisory Council.” A description has been added to the “Small Business” section of this article. The Democratic Party officially nominated Joe Biden as their candidate for president this week. Despite just taking this first step into the general election, the former vice president has already announced numerous policy proposals. Using statements from the campaign website as a resource, the following is an overview of his science and innovation proposals. The Biden campaign currently presents these proposals without any formal indication of prioritization. Clearly, the volume of policies suggests that acting on all of them would be challenging. SSTI will provide updates if Biden releases additional plans or provides a better indication of his priorities within these existing proposals. The Republican Party is expected to re-nominate Donald Trump as their presidential candidate next week. SSTI will cover what we know about his campaign’s plans for science and innovation in a future article. This article covers Biden’s proposals on the…

A new Community College Growth Engine Fund is being launched by Education Design Lab to help mitigate the growing skills gap and strengthen community colleges as drivers of innovation between education and employment. Education Design Lab is a national nonprofit that designs, implements and scales new learning models for higher education and the future of work.  With funding from national philanthropies and in partnership with the League for Innovation in the Community College, they will engage a national cohort of community colleges and systems to partner with employers and regional stakeholders. Together they plan to create new pathways to economic mobility and help low-wage and entry-level workers advance into roles that pay at least median wage. Participating systems and institutions will receive a startup award of $100,000 to launch micro-pathways, which will use real-time labor market data to identify in-demand careers and create pathways that should lead to earnings at or above the median wage. A micro-pathway is defined as “two or more stackable credentials that can be packaged as a validated market signal connecting learners to employment in high growth…

The innovation community has been on the front lines in responding to the current pandemic, and one area that has stepped up is the community makerspace. A new report from the Urban Manufacturing Alliance (UMA) highlights several of those efforts. As UMA points out, COVID-19 brought a renewed need for manufacturing capabilities, and makerspaces stepped into new roles. UMA’s report, Makerspaces In Action: A Community-Based Response to the Pandemic, focuses on four makerspaces that are contributing to response and recovery. As noted in the brief, those highlighted just scratch the surface of how makerspaces are responding, but the brief overview gives a glimpse into the role that the innovation space can play when it connects with the local community. The brief notes that many makerspaces have turned into mini factories helping to provide healthcare supplies while others have focused on training programs. The four programs highlighted in the brief include Clubhou.se in Augusta, Georgia, Protohaven in Pittsburgh, which put out-of-work makers to work on making masks, Open Works in Baltimore, which produced 26,000 face shields for local first responders, and The Foundry…