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The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) released International Benchmarking of Countries' Policies and Programs Supporting SME Manufacturers — a new report that identifies and analyzes manufacturing support programs and practices for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have been implemented in ten foreign countries (i.e., Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Spain and the United Kingdom), in addition to those of the United States. The authors, Stephen Ezell and Robert D.

This week, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) released its plan to implement the national network of manufacturing institutes announced by President Obama last March (see the March 14, 2012 issue of the Digest). The institutes would serve as regional hubs of innovation and help to accelerate the development and adoption of new manufacturing technologies. Under the newly released plan, each of the institutes would be led by U.S.

The University of Kansas' Center for Technology Commercialization is seeking a director that will be responsible for effectively managing faculty-generated intellectual property across all the University of Kansas campuses and deploying it for the greater social good.

This week, the U.S. Senate passed the Leahy-Smith America Invest Act, representing a major overhaul of the U.S. patent system. The legislation would make a number of changes to the current patent regime, including the shift to a "first-to-file" system. Under this system, the right to a patent would be granted to the first party to file a patent application for the protection of their invention. In addition, the legislation would adjust the fee structure for the evaluation process and create a new fee category for low-income applicants.

The White House released a "progress report" for Startup America—a White House and interagency initiative to "celebrate, inspire and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation." The report looks at public and private sector commitments in several key areas that will improve the environment for high-growth entrepreneurship. The report also provides status updates for current and future Startup America related initiatives.

Last week, the World Economic Forum released its annual Global Competitiveness Report, and once again, the U.S. fell in the rankings one more position to fifth place, representing a four-year decline from fourth place in 2010-11, second place in 2009-2010 and first place in 2008-2009. Switzerland held the number one spot for the second year in a row. The report indicates that while many structural features continue to make the U.S.

Most American (86 percent of survey respondents) believe manufacturing is "either important" or "very important" to our national economy, according to a new survey from the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte. Topped only by the energy industry, manufacturing finished as the second most important industry to the national economy.

The U.S. stands at "moment of truth" regarding its manufacturing sector, according to a new study by Booz & Co. and the University of Michigan's Tauber Institute for Global Operations, Manufacturing's Wake-up Call. If neglected, the sector's output could fall by half in the coming years. If "a series of identifiable smart actions and choices" are made, U.S. manufacturing could produce 95 percent of all product consumed by the nation. The study points out three significant findings regarding the current and future state of U.S.

Speaking during a Rural Economic Forum at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta, IA, President Obama announced several new initiatives to promote economic growth in rural areas, including two new capital programs. The Small Business Administration (SBA) will partner with USDA to double its current rate of investment in rural small businesses to $350 million over the next five years. This will be accomplished through SBA's Impact Investment Fund.

The U.S. Department of Treasury has released details on its latest funding approvals from the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Eleven states, and Washington, D.C., are slated to receive a portion of the $360 million that will be used to expand state small business lending and capital programs. In order to qualify, states must demonstrate that their relevant programs will generate at least $10 in new private lending for every $1 in federal funding.

E. William (Bill) Colglazier, recently retired executive officer of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council, has been selected the Science and Technology Advisor to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

The New Jersey Economic Development Agency currently is accepting comments from the state's science and technology (S&T) community on the development and implementation of a new "technology accelerator program." The mentor-based program is intended to create a competitive environment for S&T companies and entrepreneurs to showcase their products, ideas and business acumen for an opportunity to receive funding.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a $27.5 million, five-year grant to the University of Maryland for a multi-disciplinary research center focused on the interplay of human activity and healthy ecosystems. The grant is the largest ever received by the university and will provide funds for research in environmental sciences, public policy, engineering, computer science and economics.

Women are still vastly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs and have been for the past decade, even as their share of the college-educated workforce has increased, finds a new report from the Commerce Department's Economic and Statistics Administration. Women occupy only 24 percent of STEM jobs today, compared to 48 percent of all jobs, and although the gender wage gap is smaller (14 percent in STEM fields compared to 21 percent in non-STEM occupations), a clear gender disparity exists nonetheless.

The Kiva City program will extend small business access to microloans in U.S. cities facing the greatest small business stress. Kiva, a nonprofit organization, offers personal microlending services. Building upon Kiva's Internet-based lending model, the goal of the Kiva City program is to spur job growth and economic recovery through microfinance by building connections between Kiva's global network of 592,000 individual lenders and small business owners across the country.

Rhode Island has released its 2012 Benchmarking the Rhode Island Knowledge Economy, a follow-up to the inaugural report published last year. Produced by the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and Rhode Island Science & Technology Advisory Council, Benchmarking is a comprehensive report of the state's innovation capacity and a method of measuring over time Rhode Island's innovation economy in comparison to the region and the country.

Based on scant column inches on the topic in blog posts and newsletters, few within the general economic development and innovation circles seem to have noted what expiration of the Farm Bill could mean for agricultural research, energy innovation and rural economic development. Programs supporting regional innovation strategies and R&D grants are caught in the debate over cuts to food stamps, crop subsidies and farmers' safety net after disasters like the nearly nationwide drought of this past summer.

The 10 regional councils established earlier this year to stimulate economic development and improve the business climate statewide are tasked with five primary responsibilities, and can compete for funding from a pool of $1 billion to support projects they determine to be a part of their regional strategy. Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently unveiled a blueprint for how the councils will operate with information regarding resource allocation, structure and leadership, and performance measurement.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, a public-private partnership, intends to connect NSF-funded scientific research with a project team, made up of professionals from the technological, entrepreneurial and business communities, to help transition NSF-funded scientific and engineering discoveries at institutions of higher education into commercial technologies, products and processes.

Internet-specific investments hit a ten year high in the second quarter of 2011, driving overall venture investment up 19 percent over the previous quarter. The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report that venture capitalists invested $7.5 billion in 966 deals during the second quarter. This represents an increase of about 19 percent over the first quarter in both the number of deals and total dollars invested. The gain, however, was less significant when compared to the second quarter of 2010.

Venture for America (VFA), nonprofit organization, announced its official launch and the acceptance of applications for its inaugural pool of "fellows," approximately 50, selected from the graduating class of 2012. The organization hopes to "spur enterprise and encourage entrepreneurship in parts of the U.S. that struggle to attract top college graduates."

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Bureau of Business Research and Department of Economics has released its latest edition of the State Entrepreneurial Index, a state-by-state analysis of entrepreneurial activity. The index uses five components — percentage growth and per capita growth in business establishments, its business formation rate, the number of patents per thousand residents and gross receipts of sole proprietorships and partnerships per capita — to rank states in business formation and innovation.

The University of Connecticut seeks a vice president for economic development to provide strategic leadership and direction in building and capitalizing on facilities, expertise and technology available at UConn and in improving state economic prospects in high-value industries. This is a new position reporting directly to the president.

About 60 percent of U.S. academic R&D spending support research in the life sciences, according to data released by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Engineering R&D, the second largest target of spending, accounted for 15.7 percent of total academic research expenditures. While California leads the country in total spending in every science and engineering field, the District of Columbia leads in per capita spending in life sciences, physical sciences, psychology and social sciences.