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Maurice Swinton recently announced he has accepted the position of Program Manager for the Advanced Technology Office (ATO) of the Department of Homeland Security. Among its responsibilities, the ATO oversees the agency's SBIR/STTR programs.

Citing a reorganizing, the Delaware Economic Development Office fired 20 percent of its staff (10 positions) last Thursday. According to the Associated Press and local news sources, among those relieved of their duties were Janet Wurtzel, chief operating officer, and Rob Propes, entrepreneurial and small business support director.

Gov. Tom Vilsack announced that Mary Lawyer will serve as acting director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Mike Blouin resigned from the position last week to launch his campaign to become the state's next governor.

Gov. Tom Vilsack announced that Mary Lawyer will serve as acting director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Mike Blouin resigned from the position last week to launch his campaign to become the state's next governor.

After nine years as deputy director of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Joseph Bordogna is resigning. He will return to the University of Pennsylvania as Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Engineering.

Pauli Jacobi, director of the Louisiana State University System Research and Technology Foundation, is resigning her position but will remain an LSU employee.

Darrell Kelley, CEO of Enterprise Florida for the past three years, will retire on Aug. 1.

Technology specialist David Levine, hired by Gov. Joe Manchin in March, is leaving the governor's office to become executive director of the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center.

Ed Morrison, formerly with the Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland, opened the Institute for Open Source Economic Development. He will continue to maintain the EDPro weblog.

Richard Overmoyer, deputy secretary for technology investment at the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, is leaving to join the lobbying group, GSP Consulting.

The Puerto Rico Senate recently confirmed Jorge Silva-Puras as the new executive director of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company. He previously served as secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce.

After months of negotiations, the House and Senate have approved the most significant bill in years to bolster U.S. research. The America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education and Science (COMPETES) Act authorizes over $43 billion in new federal spending over the next three years, which will support U.S. math and science education and federal research agencies.

The India Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises announced last week a plan to provide funding to 50 universities and training institutions for the creation of up to 100 enterprise incubators within innovative fields.

 

Policymakers and researchers in the U.S. continue to debate the effectiveness and value of providing R&D subsidies to firms in the hope of spurring technological developments and wealth generation. At the national level, several organizations have called to make the federal R&D tax credit, also known as the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit (RETC), a permanent incentive program. Researchers centered in countries outside of the U.S. are looking at the effectiveness of R&D subsidies in their nations, as well.

An expected explosion of health-related expenditures combined with no new policy changes will likely result in fiscal challenges for state and local governments within the next decade, says a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The result could put downward pressure on public funding available to support TBED initiatives.

 

In today’s world, a trip to the doctor may entail your test results to be analyzed in India, your specialist to be called in Canada, and your billing information to be processed in South Africa. Given the prevalence and speed of modern forms of communication, information can be sent around the globe at a moment’s notice, hastening the speed of business.

 

Every year, the National Science Foundation releases its Academic R&D Expenditures report, filled with statistics related to the characteristics of R&D at U.S. colleges and universities. Using these reports, SSTI has prepared two tables detailing the funds provided by industry in fiscal year 2005 for the 100 institutions with the highest amount of industry-financed R&D.

SSTI is wrapping up the conference brochure for our 11th annual conference, Transforming Regional Economies, a mailing that goes to more than 12,000 TBED practitioners.

North Canton, Ohio, has been chosen as the site for the nation's newest Department of Defense (DoD) Center of Excellence. Centers of Excellence deal with specific military technology needs that are deemed critical to the nation's defense and security.