The nation faces social and economic crisis unless America succeeds in promoting and taking advantage of racial and ethnic diversity, according to a report released last week by the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF).
This week, the SSTI Weekly Digest continues its series on governors' State of the State addresses, highlighting those portions concerning programs, policies and issues immediately affecting the tech-based economic development community.
Describing Maine as making "modest progress" in strengthening its capacity for innovation-driven economic growth, the Maine Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) released on Tuesday The Maine Innovation Index 2002, a report on Maine's performance in the new economy.
Five Shoes Waiting to Drop on Arizona's Future, a 50-page report released by the Morrison Institute of Public Policy, details five key trends that could harm the state's future if they are not well managed.
Three Texas cities, Dallas, Houston and Austin, top the second annual Affordibility Index prepared by techies.com, a technology workforce placement company. The study tracks which cities offer the best combination of top salary and low cost of living for information technology professionals.
Salt Lake City, Atlanta, the DC/Baltimore corridor, Seattle and Phoenix round out the top eight metro areas.
AEA, formerly the American Electronics Association, in conjunciton with the Nasdaq stock market, has released CyberEducation 2002, a compendium and comparative analysis of several trends and educational statistics from across the country.
Many minority population groups are historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. This is particularly true of the country's Latino population, one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S workforce. As a result, several state and regional tech-based economic development programs are looking for ways to broaden participation in STEM fields. A recent evaluation of a Texas program finds encouraging results, perhaps suggesting a model for others to replicate.
Led by the Fort Myers-Cape Coral metro area, a burgeoning retirement and tourist destination on the state’s southwest coast, Florida landed seven of the top 15 metros in Milken Institute’s 2004 Best Performing Cities Index released last week. The others are West Palm Beach-Boca Raton (4th), Daytona Beach (5th), Sarasota-Bradenton (6th), Fort Lauderdale (9th), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (12th) and Naples (15th).
Using data from its 2004 Best Performing Cities Index, Milken has generated a comprehensive table ranking cities by one- and five-year measurements of job growth, wages and salaries, and relative high tech gross domestic product (GDP) growth, and other measurements.
The omnibus appropriations bill approved by Congress over the weekend provides $109 million in fiscal year 2005 funds to the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program, according to the American Small Manufacturers Coalition (ASMC). Of the total, $3 million is directed to help small and rural states advance outreach to manufacturers, ASMC states in its most recent legislative update.
Just as SSTI and other post-election analysts predicted, California’s recent passage of a $3 billion commitment to stem cell research is triggering responses from across the country. Wisconsin is the first to outline a specific, strategic reaction to the California referendum in an effort to retain or regain momentum in the race to encourage bio-based economic growth.
West Virginia University’s plan to develop strong research capabilities in a number of focused areas, creating hundreds of new jobs, may be completed in half the time originally anticipated. Gov. Bob Wise announced last week a $24.4 million funding package to jump-start the implementation of new research facilities and laboratories on the WVU campus.
Gov. Jodi Rell recently announced the results of a study of the strengths and weaknesses of Connecticut’s infrastructure for innovation, technology transfer and development of new businesses. A report prepared for the Connecticut Technology Transfer and Commercialization Advisory Board of the governor's Competitiveness Council presents the results.
Study Suggests Cultural Changes in Universities Could Be Key to Promoting Greater Tech Transfer
While 2002 marks the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, it also may be remembered as the first time an agency successfully finagled its way out of SBIR's requirement that 2.5 percent of extramural R&D be awarded to small technology companies.
Each year, SSTI looks at the various addresses given by the nation's governors at the beginning of the year. While the aftermath of September 11 weighs heavily in the content of this year's State of the State addresses, the important role tech-based economic development plays for strengthening state and local economies during a recession has not been overlooked by many governors.
Some of the biggest tourist destinations in the U.S. — Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City, Orlando and Honolulu — and the biggest cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — will suffer heavy job losses as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a new study from the Milken Institute.
Against a backdrop of futuristic vehicles at the Detroit Auto Show on Wednesday, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and executives of Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler announced a new cooperative automotive research partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR).
A student’s opportunity to gain access to and afford a college education varies significantly from state to state, according to a report recently issued by Lumina Foundation for Education.
Two reports released lated in 2001 by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) highlight challenges presently faced by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Science and math education funding recently took the equivalent of a roller coaster ride, winding up on the bottom end, according to the Dec. 28 issues of FYI: The Bulletin of Science Policy News of the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) kicked off the new year with a new $330,000 program to support Maryland companies wishing to develop technology-based products and/or services in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Morgan State University (MSU) or federal laboratories in Maryland. The Maryland Technology Transfer Fund (MTTF) will award non-equity investments of up to $50,000 per project.
The Tri-Cities (Richland-Kennewick-Pasco) ranks near the top 10 percent nationwide in technology industry growth and offers significant quality-of-life advantages over comparable communities, according to a recent report on local technology business.
Several warnings have been issued in recent years about U.S. dominance in the world's scientific and technological communities slipping: the number of science and engineering (S&E) doctorates awarded per capita; the dearth of women and minorities entering technical fields; the facility in which knowledge, companies and people can be transferred globally; scores on standardized math and science tests; and indicators for global entrepreneurship, to name a few.
Regional Technology Strategies, Inc. (RTS), a national nonprofit workforce and economic development group based in Carrboro, N.C., has published Cultivating Successful Rural Economies: Benchmark Practices at Community Colleges.