This week, Congress approved a $10 million appropriation for the Department of Commerce’s Regional Innovation program in the FY14 Omnibus Appropriations bill and the SSTI Digest continued its Tech Talkin’ Govs series, as governors in nine states outlined their innovation plans and achievements.
Gov. Martin O’Malley’s FY15 budget includes increased funding for the state’s biotech tax credit, cyber tax credit and R&D tax credit, and provides level funds to continue longstanding tech-based and workforce initiatives.
Powered by strong growth in the Internet and Software sectors, U.S. venture capital activity grew by about 7.5 percent in 2013, according to new data from the NVCA/PWC Moneytree survey. Both venture dollars and deals ticked up last year, bouncing back to 2011 levels after a slow 2012. SSTI has prepared tables of U.S. venture capital investment levels by state in terms of deals and dollars for the 2008-13 period.
Several common themes surrounding higher education have emerged as governors across the country unveil investment priorities for the upcoming fiscal year or biennium. In many states, governors have proposed more funding to increase affordability by freezing tuition or creating new scholarship funds. Support for expanding research capacity, technology-related infrastructure and job training in high-demand industries are some of the proposed measures aimed at competitiveness.
Michigan’s University Research Corridor (URC), an alliance between the state’s three largest higher education institutions, leads its peer clusters in generating high-tech talent and ranks second overall in innovation activity, according to a report commissioned by URC.
North Dakota has announced it will relaunch its Innovate ND business venture competition as a more expansive suite of services for innovative startups and entrepreneurs. Participants will receive vouchers for up to $2,500 to help pay for coaching and consulting services at an entrepreneurial center, development of a business plan or building a prototype. Education services also will be available, including biannual Entrepreneur Boot Camps. Read the announcement…
Ontario officials launched a new fund-of-funds this week intended to boost capital resources for high-tech companies. The Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund is a privately led initiative, supported by federal and provincial funds. The governments of Canada and Ontario have agreed to make a combined capital commitment of $1 for every $2 secured from the private sector. Current commitments total $217.5 million CAD ($195.4 million USD), but leaders hope to match the government’s maximum match level of $300 million CAD ($269.6 million USD) in a second closing later this year.
The third installment of SSTI’s Tech Talkin’ Govs series includes excerpts from speeches delivered in Delaware, Michigan, Missouri and New Mexico.
The FY15 budget proposal outlined last week by Gov. Andrew Cuomo would provide funding to continue many of New York’s innovation-focused efforts while investing in new initiatives, including a genomic medicine network and STEM scholarship program.
After hitting an all-time high in 2012, California’s dominance of the nation’s venture capital activity receded a bit last year. California continues to receive about half of the country’s venture investment dollars and about 40 percent of its dealflow, but in 2013, the state’s share of dollars fell from 53 to 50 percent, according to data from the PricewaterhouseCoopers/National Venture Capital Association (PwC/NVCA) Moneytree survey. Massachusetts, which has been host to about 10 percent of national venture activity in past years, also saw its share of total U.S.
Filling the pipeline with skilled workers able to perform the high-tech jobs employers say are sitting vacant has long been advocated by state leaders and policymakers as essential to competing in the global economy. Governors in Florida and Louisiana are stepping up efforts this legislative session with proposed multi-million dollar investments through training and scholarship programs to change the landscape of their states’ workforce.
This week marks 2014 Computer Science Education Week, the Obama administration’s call to the education, business, foundational, and nonprofit communities to help support and expand access to computer science education in American schools. On Monday, the administration announced several commitments aimed at providing millions of additional students with computer since education, including:
On December 4, the Canadian government revealed their national Science and Technology (S&T) Strategy – Seizing Canada's Moment: Moving Forward in Science, Technology and Innovation 2014. An update to the original report released in 2007, the S&T strategy identifies five priority research areas for federal support over the next seven years: environment and agriculture; health and life sciences; natural resources and energy; information and communications technology; and, advanced manufacturing.
President Obama has announced two new competitions for manufacturing innovation hubs as Congress debates whether or not to fund a national network of innovation institutes (see related article). The first hub would foster research and commercialization collaborations around smart manufacturing for the Department of Energy. The second would develop flexible hybrid electronics technology at the Department of Defense.
Labor Secretary Thomas Perez announced details of a new $100 million grant competition to expand apprenticeship opportunities in high-growth industries. The program will specifically target industries that are using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers. By investing in collaborative efforts around the country, officials hope the program will help develop clear career pathways through apprenticeship, particularly for underrepresented populations.
Included in the continuing resolution/omnibus spending bill for FY15 is $10 million for the Regional Innovation program. The Regional Innovation Program was authorized under the American COMPETES Act and is designed to provide funding to support regional innovation activities. The program received its first funding of $10 million in FY14 after extensive work on the Hill by SSTI, its members and others.
Earlier this week, congressional appropriators reached a tentative agreement on spending levels for the 2015 fiscal year just a few days before the Thursday deadline. The continuing resolution omnibus, “cromnibus,” spending package would, if approved by the House, Senate and president, avert a government shutdown and again defer budget negotiations until next September. Under the agreement, most agency budgets would remain at similar levels to those enacted for FY14.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe hopes to increase the commonwealth’s profile in the global life sciences industry through his recently launched Virginia Bioscience Initiative. The initiative will develop cross-agency linkages, as well as public-private partnerships, to support entrepreneurs, use big data to drive new discoveries and speed the commercialization of new technologies. Gov.
This week, President Obama signed off on the continuing resolution omnibus spending package that will keep the federal government open for another nine months (see last week’s analysis).The spending bill provides stable funding for R&D and most research agencies, according to analysis by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced the fourth round of regional economic development grants to support tailored approaches to job creation in different areas of the state. The $709.2 million in awards are part of the state’s ongoing Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) initiative begun in 2011. Regional strategies have long been a key component of state development policy, enabling policymakers to encourage institutional partnerships with a focus on the specific needs of local economies.
Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched the New York State Innovation Venture Capital Fund (NYSIVC or The Fund), a $50 million fund that is expected to leverage at least $100 million in private capital to support early stage companies in high growth areas such as advanced materials, clean technology, life sciences/biotechnology, and information technology.
A total of $30.8 billion for science and engineering (S&E) was given by federal agencies to 1,073 academic institutions across the United States in FY 2012, according to new research from the National Science Foundation. Although these obligations are 2 percent less than they were the year before, commitments to science and engineering increased more than 9 percent from 2007 to 2012. During that same time, per capita commitments to academic S&E decreased 7 percent.
Funding for public colleges decreased by 12 percent overall from FY03 to FY12, while tuition rates for all public colleges rose by 55 percent during the same time, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Driven in part by the impact of the recent recession on state budgets, the decline in state funding has had a significant impact on college affordability for students and their family.
In fall 2013, 21 federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) in the U.S. employed 2,613 postdoctoral researchers in 2012, down 6.4 percent from the previous year, according to a recently released InfoBrief from the National Science Foundation. Postdocs, who help government agencies meet their research and analytic needs and in turn receive relevant training and experience, are more than 75 percent male and more than 50 percent international, according to the brief.
Gov. Terry Branstad announced the release of the findings from the Iowa’s Re-envisioned Economic Development Roadmap – a year-long effort to set a future strategic direction for economic development in Iowa. During the year-long study, the authors from Battelle examined the current position of Iowa’s economy as compared to the nation and benchmarked states.