Last week, the House and the Senate approved the concurrent (final) budget resolution for FY 1997. The $1.63 trillion spending blueprint establishes broad spending targets for the coming fiscal year. Nondefense R&D is budgeted at $32.2 billion in FY 1997, down from the FY 1996 total of $32.7 billion.
Minnesota Technology, Inc. (MTI), the state's leading tech-based economic development corporation, currently is searching for a dynamic individual with top-notch skills to help bring federal technology transfer activities to Minnesota companies.
A ballot proposal being put forth by Citizens for a Healthy Michigan would reduce funding for Michigan Life Sciences Corridor sponsored projects by nearly $50 million annually, estimates a report released by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The annual reduction includes both the cut in direct funding and required matching funds for Corridor funded projects.
The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) has announced 40 awards potentially totaling $101.6 million in ATP funding matched by an industry cost-share of $92 million if carried through to completion. These awards were selected from proposals submitted to 2002 competition.
The National Commission on Entrepreneurship (NCOE) has released the American Formula for Growth – Federal Policy and the Entrepreneurial Economy, 1958-1998, a report that provides an extensive review of the role of public policy during the “entrepreneurial revolution” of the past 40 years.
In the 1990s, the dialogue on information technology (IT) centered on dot.coms and e-commerce, and little focus was placed on the effect of IT on the labor market. Richard Freeman addresses this issue in The Labour Market in the New Information Economy, an NBER working paper released this month.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty committee has suggested that the university provide off-campus facilities to help faculty perform classified public service or research involving the nation’s security. In the Public Interest, a report of the Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on Access To and Disclosure of Scientific Information of MIT, presents recommendations for the university in handling classified work in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
NASA has selected 45 consortia in the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (Space Grant) to receive funding for aerospace workforce development. A total of $3.56 million is being awarded in response to the proposals submitted by the state organizations to NASA's Education Division in the Office of Human Resources and Education at Headquarters in Washington.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced 24 awards under the new Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program — an anticipated investment of $240 million over five years in projects to improve the achievement of K-12 students in science and mathematics. The Department of Education is an NSF partner in this effort, co-funding two projects involving state education agencies.
Innovation Philadelphia (IP), the public-private partnership dedicated to enhancing the global innovation economy of Philadelphia through technological leadership, received on Monday a $442,500 investment from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration.
Leslie McGranahan, in Unprepared for Boom or Bust: Understanding the Current State Fiscal Crisis, highlights the problems that are inherent in state policy when dealing with the cyclical behavior of the economy.
NASA has announced the Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA, will team with the National Institute of Aerospace Associates (NIAA), Reston, VA, to create the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) to perform aerospace and atmospheric research, develop new technologies for the nation and help inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.
Following President Bush's call for the nation to "be aggressive about the deployment of broadband," the Technology Administration within the U.S. Department of Commerce recently issued Understanding Broadband Demand — a 25-page paper examining the state of broadband demand and usage in the U.S. and identifying successes, challenges and actions to promote more aggressive uptake.
On Thursday, Illinois Governor George Ryan announced nearly $3 million in state grants for eight Illinois Technology Enterprise Corporation (ITEC) centers, quadrupling the number of ITECs. Funded by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA), the centers assist technology-based start-up businesses and serve as incubators for the new ventures.
A $500,000 state grant approved Thursday by South Dakota Governor Bill Janklow will help create a center in Sioux Falls for fledgling technology businesses.
A regional partnership of economic development organizations, led by the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), announced the launch of the Northwest Technology Investor Network last week. The network is an online forum that links investors and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector.
True technology growth for Orange County hinges on a broader, more supportive infrastructure, argues the latest research report by the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance (Larta).
The SSTI Weekly Digest and Funding Supplement will not be published next week as the office will be closed during SSTI's 6th Annual Conference, Building Tech-based Economies: From Policies to Practice on October 1-3.
The next issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest will be released on October 11.
"California must continue to increase funding for science and technology in its university systems or risk losing one of its most important comparative advantages," warns the Milken Institute in the State Technology & Science Index: Comparing and Contrasting California.
The relaxation of international trade barriers and increased emphasis on globalization have had significant effects on the world's high-tech manufacturing industry. Two recent papers look at the phenomenon. An Infobrief from the National Science Foundation focuses on the growth of high-tech manufacturing in Latin America and a working paper released by the National Bureau of Economic Research considers the changes in the composition and character of the U.S.
Earlier this week, the European Commission presented its strategy to respond to the March 2002 Barcelona European Council's call to raise research spending to 3 percent of the European Union's (EU) average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2010. Today, Europe is at 1.9 percent on average across the member countries.
Last week, Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman announced the selection of 29 economic development projects to receive more than $3.1 million. Funding provided through USDA Rural Development's business opportunity grants and economic development loan and grant programs will assist over 455 businesses and create or save nearly 3,000 jobs, according to the grant proposals.
When budgets tighten for state and local governments, as they have in nearly every corner of the country, legislatures and political leaders look for areas to reduce spending. Having a strong documented record of the positive impact of your technology-based economic development efforts and investments can help protect vital programs from the axe.
Many areas of the country are experiencing a brain drain, an outmigration of recent college graduates leading to a decline in the available labor pool of entry level workers, young entrepreneurs and future civic leaders. A new initiative, however, hopes to reverse that trend in Northeastern Pennsylvania by strengthening the social, networking and professional relationships among young skilled workers in the Wilkes-Barre region.
At its August 28th meeting, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) approved sending a letter to President Bush urging him to "improve funding levels for physical sciences and certain areas of engineering" as the Administration prepares the FY 2004 federal budget request. The letter also encourages the federal government to establish a graduate fellowship program to attract more students into critical fields of science and engineering.