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.
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.
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.
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:
The U.S.s entrepreneurial culture, long celebrated as a key element in the country’s economic success, is being threatened by several long-term trends, according to a paper from the Brookings Institution’s Robert Litan and Ian Hathaway. Over the past 30 years, U.S. business starts have slid downward, with many experts and policymakers offering their own explanations for the trend. Litan and Hathaway examine the data and note two possible causes: regional population decline and business consolidation.
Around the world, national governments are working to cultivate their innovation economies and increase their global competiveness by creating and increasing support for government-led initiatives. Leaders of advanced economies recognize that their positions as global leaders face a murky future due to the emergence of new economies. In turn, officials from emerging economies realize that supporting innovation is necessary for their economies to continue their rapid growth.
Last week, the SSTI Weekly Digest offered an overview of the many TBED-focused tax incentives currently under consideration in a number of state legislatures. Tax credits for research and development and for angel capital investment, in particular, appear to be under consideration in many parts of the country. At the same time, there appears to be a renewed emphasis on transparency in the operation and effectiveness of these kinds of tax credits.
This week, governors in Oregon and North Dakota released their budget proposals for the upcoming budget cycle. Although the budgets differ in both size and scope, education, workforce development, and other programs related to technology-based economic development are set to receive considerable amounts of state funding.
Last week, the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) announced the launch of FLCBusiness, an all-inclusive search database that shares information about funding, equipment, know-how, and resources available from the federal lab network for private and public utilization.
As part of President Obama’s recent executive order on immigration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently issued a number of new policies and regulations intended to capitalize on the skills of foreign workers, researchers and students. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy published an explanation of how the new rules will also be used to attract immigrant entrepreneurs through two new pathways to legal residency.
With the hopes of better understanding which policy environments encourage and support innovation, new research from the C.D. Howe Institute, a Canadian public policy thinktank, examines which sectors and provinces drive Canadian patent intensity.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) released a request for information (RFI) on revisions to two key areas of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) policy directives: SBIR/STTR Phase III policy; and, SBIR/STTR data rights.
On November 20, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) held its annual Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation. During the daylong event, panelists focused on two important issues – secondary market liquidity for securities of small businesses and the potential revision of accredited investor definition.
Federal funds for science and engineering at American universities grew steadily from 2001 to 2008, jumped in 2009 and 2010 due to the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), and more or less returned to its original trajectory in 2011, according to survey data from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Federal S&E funding in most states followed a similar pattern. A few states, including Minnesota and Delaware, managed to sustain their level of federal S&E support after the Recovery Act funds ceased.
Though federal support for R&D increased in FY14, federal spending on research and R&D facilities is currently at its lowest point in a decade, according to new data from the National Science Foundation (NSF). After hitting an all-time high in FY09, U.S. federal funding for R&D slid downward for the four years. By FY13, funding for R&D, and R&D plant (buildings and fixed equipment), had fallen by 19.4 percent. Federal funds only began to tick back upward in FY14, when increased support for basic research, agriculture and natural resources led to a 2.4 percent increase.
More and more established companies are trying to keep pace with technological changes by increasing their presence in the startup community. Although some companies choose to locate divisions such as software in places like the Bay Area, others are taking a more hands-on approach. Corporate accelerators function as startup accelerators that receive significant and public support from established firms such as financial investments, privileged access to resources, official endorsements by the corporation, as well as continued organizational ties.
Over the last couple weeks, governors in Arkansas and Mississippi presented budgets to their stage legislature. In Arkansas, term-limited Gov. Mike Beebe presented two budget proposals for the 2015-17 biennial budget to state lawmakers. However, Gov.-elect Asa Hutchison also will present a budget to the legislature that may differ from Gov. Beebe’s proposal and potentially impact funding for state agencies due to a proposed $100 million individual income tax cut. Mississippi Gov.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler has proposed a permanent $1.5 billion increase in the cap of the E-rate program as part of the largest overhaul of the initiative in 18 years. The E-rate program is the federal government’s largest educational technology program, funding broadband and wireless access for schools and libraries with a portion of the funds received through the Universal Service fee for interstate communications.