Scientific research, technological development and innovation are the heart of a knowledge-based economy, and in order to strengthen this sector in Europe, the European Union’s (EU) research budget needs to be doubled, according to a new plan released by the Commission of The European Communities.
One of the more interesting uses of funds from the national tobacco settlement with the states, Virginia officials announced a $12 million economic development and broadband technology infrastructure initiative to serve more than 25 towns, cities and counties of rural Virginia.
On July 16, both houses of Wisconsin’s state Legislature passed a state budget including numerous incentives for technological development. The budget covers state spending for a two-year period that began July 1. Gov. Scott McCallum has until August 30 to approve the budget; several of the tech-related items were in the Governor's first state of the state and executive budget addresses.
Despite many indications that show strong potential for growth, Southern California's bioscience industry still faces challenges, according to a new report from the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance (larta). Released July 19, Heart of Gold: The Bioscience Industry in Southern California highlights the strengths of the region's industry and honestly assesses the ways that the industry can overcome its weaknesses. The report was created to present a full
Tom Murphy says when he first took office as Mayor of Pittsburgh in January 1994, the city was suffering from one of the worst inferiority complexes in its history. To be sure, Pittsburgh once was known first and foremost as being the capital of steelmaking in the U.S. By 1994, the devolution of U.S. steelmakers during the past 25 years had taken its toll on the steel city, physically, economically and psychologically.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has posted its selections for the FY 2001 Phase I solicitation of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. Using information obtained from Ruth Lange of the USDA SBIR Program Office and the USDA website, SSTI has prepared the accompanying table presenting the state-by-state distribution of proposals, awards and total funding provided for the Phase I cycle.
Birmingham, Alabama
The DOEd Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research invites applications for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 awards under the following programs. More information is available under the July 31 announcements of the Federal Register: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/
Includes $24M for Biomedical Research, $50M for Wright Centers
When Florida Gov. Jeb Bush surprised the world last October by announcing the state had landed an East Coast campus for the Scripps Research Institute, the draw from the public coffers cost was pegged at $510 million. The state was contributing $310 million and the county's share was up to $200 million for land acquisition and building construction.
Michigan small businesses receiving state and federal grants for research and development will be able to put more of those funds into their work, with legislation unanimously passing the state Senate last week.
The House Appropriations Committee passed on June 9 its version of the fiscal year 2005 Homeland Security bill, approving $70 million for university programs in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The funding level is $40 million above the President's FY 2005 request. The additional $40 million is allocated specifically for university-based centers of excellence.
A new report assessing 2002 federal research and development (R&D) funding in U.S. universities and colleges finds 45 percent of all federal R&D funds went directly to the nation’s 126 medical schools. This striking discovery, the authors contend, raises the question of whether other areas having substantial R&D funding needs such as environment, energy, homeland security and education are receiving the attention they require.
Although a significant gap still exists between women-led companies and their male counterparts, in terms of venture funding, some promising news may suggest a change in fortune for the former, a study released today by Growthink Research of Los Angeles and Chicago-based re:invention Inc. shows.
Most states recognize the importance university research plays in building a strong knowledge economy; it is a prominent component of the strongest regional technology clusters. Many states are increasingly focused on expanding their university research capacity and increasing the number of students in key science and engineering fields.
One of the few new spending bills to make it through the 2001 session of the Minnesota Legislature provides $10 million in seed money for technology commercialization through a new Biomedical Innovation and Commercialization Initiative (BICI – pronounced beach-ee). The BICI appropriation is contingent upon state economic development officials securing a three-to-one private sector match.
Ohio Governor Bob Taft last week signed legislation creating the Ohio Aerospace and Defense Council to examine state and federal laws, rules, and policies that affect the two industries and associated federal installations in Ohio. Ohio is home to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the state’s largest single-site employer, and the NASA Glen Research Center in Cleveland.
Six objectives are to be addressed by the council:
The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania has issued a Request for Proposals to develop an asset-mapping study of the nanotechnology sector in the four-state Philadelphia Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Rhode Island Technology Council (RITEC) is launching a benchmarking survey this week of the state’s information technology (IT) industry to determine how the council and state economic development organizations can be most effective at addressing the sector’s needs in light of the continued restructuring of the national IT industry.
Brain drains and a lack of technically skilled workers, both scientists and engineers, are commonly heard complaints of state and local tech-based economic development practitioners across the country. But are federal and state innovation policies part of the problem? Paul M. Romer, of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, says yes in Should the Government Subsidize Supply or Demand of in the Market for Scientists and Engineers?
California voters will be at the forefront of a highly controversial issue this November when they are asked to decide on a $3 billion bond issue to fund stem cell research.
The importance states are placing on the biosciences to fuel future economic growth is clearly evident in a monumental study released today at the annual international convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). Laboratories of Innovation: State Bioscience Initiatives 2004 is the most comprehensive analysis ever done to quantify the scope and impact of bioscience employment in all 50 states.
Only a handful of metropolitan areas have the critical mass necessary to ensure sustainability of their local biotech communities, according to America’s Biotech and Life Science Clusters, a new study from the Milken Institute. At the top of the list is San Diego, followed closely by Boston and the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metro area. Only another nine are in the running, the report contends.
Anxiety over offshoring is an increasingly prevalent issue among Americans and a hot button issue for the upcoming presidential election. With concerns looming from all sectors, it can be difficult to assess which ones hold the most validity. According to a new report from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), the real threat to offshoring is it could alter the occupational distribution of the economy and, particularly, squeeze the middle class.
While the federal government supports fuel cell research, nearly every state across the country has taken a more active role in advancing the development and commercialization of fuel cell and renewable energy technologies, according to two recent reports from the North Carolina State University Solar Center. A web-based directory of more than 875 state and federal initiatives managed by the center helps prove that point.