The annual Earth Day celebrations provide an opportunity for the least environmentally friendly corporations and politicians in America to appear green by sponsoring litter pick-ups or standing in front of hydrogen fueled cars. More often, however, the U.S. policy debate sees a "jobs versus environment" battle, or most recently, cheaper gas versus environmental integrity.
A significant increase in venture-backed exits is signaling a new phase in the evolution of the global venture capital industry, according to a report released May 3 by Ernst & Young. Venture-backed company exits grew in value and number in 2005, as the U.S.
It's probably the case that not all of your travel over the next few months will be for personal vacation. Conference excursions can stimulate new ideas, add to your professional growth, and establish or strengthen opportunities for collaboration. In addition to reserving Oct. 31-Nov. 2 for SSTI's 10th Annual Conference in Oklahoma City, we encourage you to check out our web calendar of events to scan more than 140 additional opportunities for professional development.
With preparations for SSTI's 10th Annual Conference in Oklahoma City on Oct. 31-Nov. 2 well underway, we have received many questions from local, regional and state organizations wanting to host the premier event for the tech-based economic development (TBED) profession in 2007. Because of the increased interest, SSTI has bumped up its schedule for selecting the 2007 site. We are accepting nominations of host organizations and locations for SSTI's 11th Annual Conference until July 30, 2006.
Building on the his first economic plan, Vermont Governor James Douglas has announced a second set of proposals to retain and create jobs in the state. The governor's eight-page Creating Jobs for the 21st Century embodies several tech-based economic development elements within the four primary goals outlined below. Some of the highlights include:
The high tech economy of Massachusetts is emerging from the recent recession with its fundamental strengths in science, technology and entrepreneurship in good shape, according to the Executive Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy. Significant innovation in the state’s industries, however, is necessary to make up for the jobs lost since 2000, the index states.
The promise of high-wage jobs, increased business competitiveness and wealth creation makes the commercialization of university research a central element in the technology-based economic development strategies of many states, provinces and regions of North America.
A recent survey of 343,336 of the nation's fourth and eighth graders indicates more students are performing better in mathematics, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). In the math portion of NCES' National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), large gains were shown among the lowest 10 percent of fourth grade students and most of the lower-scoring eighth grade students since the study was last conducted in 2000.
Nothing in the performance of the residential broadband market suggests that federal subsidies or other government intervention will enhance the market from the perspective of economic efficiency, concludes the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in a new report, Does the Residential Broadband Market Need Fixing? CBO prepared the report for the Senate Budget Committee, reviewing recent trends in the market for residential fast Internet access to determine whether there are impediments to the market's growth.
Alaska Technology Councils To Merge
The National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges elected University of Georgia president Michael Adams as chairman of its council of presidents.
The National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges elected University of Georgia president Michael Adams as chairman of its council of presidents.
Lizabeth Ardisana was elected Chairperson of the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the state.
Sonya Buckner has resigned her position as director of the small business incubator for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce to become vice president of special projects for the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce. Douglas Jones will assume leadership of the Montgomery Incubator.
The Chicago based Committee of 200, an organization of leading women in business, has named Diane Graham as its new chair.
The University of Minnesota Duluth Center for Economic Development has named Elaine Hansen as its new permanent director.
The winners of the Siemens Westinghouse/AAAS Competition for the Best Teen Scientists and Mathematicians of the Year were announced this week: 17-year-old Yin Li of New York City was the individual grand prize winner for his project "Characterizing the Prion Properties of a Translational Regulator Expressed in Mouse Brain." Brothers Mark and Jeffrey Scheider, 18 and 16, respectively, of South Windsor, Conn., won the grand prize in the team category for the "Simulation of the West Nile Virus u
Ken Olsen will become the new executive director of the Palouse Economic Development Council in Washington State.
Tom Wallace has stepped down as president of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum.
Just over a year since its creation, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) has released a strategic plan calling for the state to potentially increase its support for several new tech-based economic development initiatives. IEDC's Accelerating Growth: Indiana's Strategic Development Plan outlines nearly two dozen action items along three themes: innovation, talent and investment.
The metaphor of a pipeline is often used for describing the innovation process and, specifically, the health of a regional innovation system. Sustaining knowledge-based growth requires a steady flow of ideas, people and capital. Often, the flow can be weak in one of these areas -- or clogged by other factors such as lack of key resources or programs.
For the third consecutive year, industrial support of U.S. academic research dropped, according to an April 2006 InfoBrief by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The 2.6 percent decrease in fiscal year 2004 from the previous year is the sharpest yet in the three-year trend, following a 1.1 percent reduction in FY 2003 and 1.6 percent in FY 2002.
[Editor’s Note: The following discussion regarding the research’s relevance to state and regional TBED policy is SSTI’s. It will not be found in the working paper, nor do we mean to suggest these conclusions were drawn by professors Zucker and Darby.]
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides online reports presenting the number of patents filed within each state distributed across technology sector or organization. Patent activity is considered an important indicator for measuring innovation and understanding economic growth.