The Allegheny Conference on Community Development announced the following three staff appointments: Leigh McIntosh was named special projects director, Katherine Needham is a new senior vice president, and Roger Cranville will serve as senior vice president of business investment for the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance.
Nancy Stark has left the National Center for Small Communities to direct the new Rural Governance Initiative, a joint venture of the Rural Policy Research Institute and the Corporation for Enterprise Development.
Brian Vogt is the new director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade in the Colorado Office of the Governor.
The Association of American Universities has named Pat White to serve as director of federal relations.
Washington Gov. Gary Locke appointed Juli Wilkerson to serve as director of the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, replacing Martha Choe, who is now serving as state coordinator for the Boeing 7E7 project.
North Carolina could boost its economy by further leveraging the science of atoms and molecules, a new report finds. In A Roadmap for Nanotechnology in North Carolinas 21st Century, released earlier this month, a state task force comprised of academic and business leaders offers a number of ways North Carolina can use nanotech to provide secure more high-paying jobs for its economy.
SSTI is pleased to give regular Digest readers the first peek at the four intensive pre-conference workshops, which will precede SSTI's 10th annual conference on Nov. 1-2. Registration may be completed online at: https://www.ssti.org/Conf06/registration.htm.
Turning Innovations into Enterprises: A Practitioner's Guide to Technology Commercialization
While money is often downplayed as a motivator for academic researchers, it turns out they are more like the rest of us than some thought, according to a new study from the London School of Economics and Political Science. The more a university shares its royalties with faculty researchers, the more overall licensing income that university earns, the study suggests.
A well rounded K-12 educational system has long been regarded as a prerequisite for robust regional growth. An accessible supply of early stage capital is another key ingredient for entrepreneurship. Can both be accomplished simultaneously?
The Census Bureau recently released a 2005 update for American Community Survey (ACS), the most detailed demographic information available for nearly 7,000 areas including congressional districts, counties, cities and American Indian/Alaska native areas with a population of 65,000 or more.
In 2004, U.S. industry-financed academic R&D totaled more than $2.1 billion -- a $54.9 million decrease from 2003, according to the National Science Foundations Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, Fiscal Year 2004.
One of the hottest political topics this year is the outsourcing of U.S. jobs to other countries. A Google search on "outsourcing" returns about 4.8 million pages. Reports from Gartner, Forrester Research, McKinsey & Company, AeA, and the Institute for International Economics, among others, have looked at the topic and fed the interest.
There are a number of reasons why developing a business incubation program may be appropriate for your organization or community. Whether it is creating new jobs or developing and commercializing new technologies, business incubators can provide a variety of resources to help ensure that companies succeed. Two new handbooks document some of the best practices and successful business incubation models across the country.
Developing a Business Incubation Program
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez recently announced the creation of a 15-member advisory committee to examine methods used around the country to measure innovation. The panel, dubbed the Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economic Advisory Committee, will be composed of academia and private industry representatives and will convene this fall to identify new ways to assess regional innovation activity and the impact of innovation policies.
In 2004, U.S. academic R&D expenditures totaled $42.9 billion up 7.21 percent from 2003, according to the National Science Foundation's Survey of Research and Development Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, FY 2004. The NSF report details R&D expenditures at public colleges and universities by geographic location, institution, science and engineering fields, and source of funding.
Students who receive a bachelor's degree in science or engineering (S&E) frequently find themselves on non-technical career paths, but according to a recent study, most of these graduates later report that their S&E education plays an important role at work. Nearly 73 percent of people whose highest level of education is an S&E bachelor's degree do not work in traditional S&E occupations. However, almost two-thirds of that group report that their current job is related to their degree.
The potential opportunity for bio-based fuels to supplement or supplant some of the nations fossil fuel addiction has enticed two entities with deep pockets - one public, one private - to separately offer $750 million to support research in the growing field. Working independently, both entities are planning to concentrate their investments in only 1-2 research institutions, creating instant anchors for growing localized clusters for the new industry.
Recognizing an immediate need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the adverse consequences of climate change, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have announced their intention to become partners and act aggressively to address climate change and promote energy diversity.
For many areas of the country, the first five years of the 21st century may well be remembered as a period of dramatic economic transformation, or the beginning of one as the rate of change continues at a fast clip. Having statistics for the five-year period of 2000-2005, however, provides the first opportunity for policymakers and academic researchers to look for meaning in the trends.
American K-12 students are becoming less and less interested in math, science and technology fields. Recent studies reveal that students are increasingly dropping science and math classes and pursuing careers in the arts and social services. Since national and regional competitiveness in high-tech fields depends on a skilled labor market, fueled by college graduates in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, many areas are attempting to generate more interest in these subjects.
A new report released in conjunction with the Fourth International Competitive Brazil Congress gives a positive assessment of the country's potential as a leader in life sciences and provides useful model for competitiveness assessments in other regions. The report, Mechanisms of Innovation and Competitiveness, was prepared by the Center for the Support of Technology Development at the University of Brasilia and coordinated by the five-year-old Competitive Brazil Movement (Movimento Brasil Competitivo, MBC).
George Bald, Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, has announced his resignation to become executive director of the Pease Development Authority.
George Bald, Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, has announced his resignation to become executive director of the Pease Development Authority.
Janice Bourque, president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, plans to step down once a replacement has been found.