A new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project cites that 20 percent of Americans do not have broadband access, while an additional 10 percent of Americans have broadband access via smartphones. The report suggests that age, educational attainment, and household income continue to be the defining factors for home broadband adoption.
Electric vehicles may be gaining momentum.
The winding down of the space shuttle program in Florida’s Space Coast by the Obama administration in 2010 spurred a transition in NASA’s areas of focus, including an increased emphasis on commercializing technologies and industry partnerships. NASA recently announced several new initiatives with tech firms, universities, and state agencies geared toward investing in cutting-edge research and technology and developing an educated workforce.
America is moving back to its cities. A majority of people on this planet live in metropolitan areas with one million people moving to cities and metros every five days. In the U.S., the nation’s top 100 metropolitan areas account for two-thirds of the nation’s population and generate 75 percent of national GDP. This is more than a trend, according to Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley of the Brookings Institution … this is a revolution.
Foundations increasingly are tapping into the unique skills of institutions of higher education by partnering with them to support entrepreneurial growth within their surrounding communities. These foundations view institutions of higher education as the ideal partners to provide education and business services necessary for entrepreneurs to reach their potential. Several foundations recently have announced funding to support entrepreneurship development activities at universities including the Ratcliffe Foundation and the Allstate Foundation.
New legislation passed by the California legislature would expand the state’s Innovation Hub (iHub) program, which supports commercialization and entrepreneurship at a regional level. The program initially was launched in March 2010 through the state’s Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.
While the conditions of the U.S. economy continue to hinder growth, stability and efficiency in the financial markets and a positive assessment of public institutions have helped improve the nation’s competitiveness and reverse a four-year downward trend. In World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index 2013-14, the U.S. moved into the number five spot, up from seventh last year, overtaking the Netherlands and Sweden. For the second year in a row, Switzerland, Singapore and Finland held onto their first, second and third rankings, respectively.
This week, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) hosted a debate between ITIF’s President Robert Atkinson and Andrew McAfee, principal research scientist at the Center for Digital Business in the MIT Sloan School of Management and co-author of Race Against the Machine. The lively debate revolved around the impact of technology innovation on the U.S.
The European Commission is offering a €500,000 (US$655,700) prize to accompany designation of an "iCapital" — the single city in the Union, which is building the best "innovation ecosystem", connecting citizens, public organizations, academia, and business. Should the U.S. federal government follow suit? Probably not without modifications.
The Obama administration is seeking closer economic cooperation with Latin America to enhance opportunities for startups and SMEs in the U.S. and across the hemisphere. This week, the U.S. State Department is launching the Small Business Network of the Americas to promote international cooperation between TBED institutions in the Americas.
The U.S. Department of Defense Office of Naval Research has announced a $30 million investment in Energy Excelerator, an accelerator for cleantech companies within the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research (PICHTR). Energy Excelerator originally launched three years ago with $10 million in seed funding from the Department of Energy.
The field of technology-based economic development strives to provide opportunities and support for budding entrepreneurs and technology-based startups in hopes of strengthening our economies. But, policymakers and governments have much to gain directly from the pool of talented tech entrepreneurs. Technology startups are tapping into the $142 billion public sector market and are helping governments reduce costs and improve their services through innovative web applications and, in some cases, total system overhauls.
Startups spun out of university research parks stayed in business longer than the overall national average and helped to improve regional competitiveness by establishing their companies within the area where they were incubated, according to a recent survey from the Association of University Research Parks (AURP). The survey reported the findings of 108 university research park directors over the past five years to demonstrate the extent to which the parks are focused on advancing innovation in their region.
As the TBED community seeks to diversify its funding partners, corporations would seem to be logical prospects. Pickings are getting slimmer, however. Despite tallying record profits and stock market values over the past few years, corporations are getting stingier with their giving programs, according to a new report from the Foundation Center.
In the days before the federal government shutdown, the White House released details of a $300 million cross-agency strategy to revive the Detroit economy following the city government’s bankruptcy filing. Most of the funding comes from existing programs that will either continue to support efforts in Detroit or will now allocate a portion of their grants, loans or services to Detroit-based recipients. However, while innovation and entrepreneurship is a major plank of the strategy, little of the $300 million will directly benefit technology-based economic development programs.
Google recently designated seven local entrepreneurial support organizations as the inaugural members of its new Tech Hub network. These organizations will receive financial support, technical content, business tools, and infrastructure upgrades, to support increasing demand from software developers and startups. Google’s announcement notes that these specific organizations were chosen because of their innovative approaches to launching businesses and their success in creating jobs in their respective communities.
Only two states will hold gubernatorial elections this year: New Jersey and Virginia. But those states have garnered a great deal of media attention because of the candidates’ stark policy differences on a wide range of issues, including jobs and the economy. This week, SSTI takes a look at the plans for economic growth and higher education put forth by Virginia Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe and Republican nominee Ken Cuccinelli.
The California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development is preparing to launch four new Innovation Hubs (iHubs) across the state. iHubs, strategically placed within existing clusters, serve as centers of collaboration for regional economic development agencies, venture capitalists, incubators, and higher education to develop joint programming for entrepreneurship (see the September 4 issue).
Last week the Columbus Metropolitan Club hosted Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld to give remarks on the state of American manufacturing. Kleinfeld made the case that "talent is global," and that the U.S. must invest heavily in workforce development and STEM education if our country wants to continue to grow the manufacturing sector and remain globally competitive.
During most of the 20th century the textile industry was an economic pillar of the American South. During the 1990s the forces of globalization caused most of the industry to move overseas. Economic experts predicted that the textile industry would never return to U.S. soil. Recently, towns like like Gastonia, NC, and Gaffney, SC, have seen shuttered mills reopened for business as advanced manufacturing technologies have supported the growth of an emerging advanced textiles sector.
In contrast to last week's coverage of the Virginia gubernatorial candidates on issues that affect jobs and the economy, there are little specifics on the topic provided by either New Jersey candidate. Incumbent Gov.
A network of more than 1,500 expert advisors is among the distinctive features that makes the Innovation Center of the Rockies' (ICR) low-cost, effective model for commercializing research appealing to universities across the country. This week, ICR announced they have entered into an agreement with the University of Wyoming to bring more faculty inventions to market based on their successful model. ICR works closely with tech transfer offices in Colorado, and now in Wyoming, to understand and develop viable pathways for university-based inventions.
Early data from a number of sources indicates that the venture capital market continued its resuscitation from the 2008 crisis during the third quarter of 2013. CB Insights reports that 857 venture deals representing $7.2 billion were completed last quarter, which, by their data, would be the highest rate of dealflow since the dotcom era. Other sources report a similar number of deals, but find that some quarters in recent years have been more active.
President Obama launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee “2.0.” Former SSTI board member Luis Proenza, president of The University of Akron is part of the steering committee chaired by Andrew Liveris, president, chairman, and CEO of the Dow Chemical Company, and Rafael Reif, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.