President Bush is nominating Floyd Kvamme as co-chair of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science & Technology (PCAST). Mr. Kvamme is a Partner with Kleiner Perkins, a high-tech venture capital firm based in California.
President Bush is nominating Floyd Kvamme as co-chair of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science & Technology (PCAST). Mr. Kvamme is a Partner with Kleiner Perkins, a high-tech venture capital firm based in California.
The President is nominating Bruce P. Mehlman to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy. Mr. Mehlman has served as Telecommunications Policy Counsel for Cisco Systems since 1999. Before joining Cisco Systems he was General Counsel and Policy Director for the House Republican Conference and served as General Counsel for the National Republican Congressional Committee from 1996 to 1999.
For the Department of Agriculture, President Bush is nominating Iowa-resident Tom Dorr to be Under Secretary for Rural Development. The office oversees the USDA's economic development and digital divide programs. The President also intends to nominate Joseph J. Jen to be Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics.
The NIST Advanced Technology Program recently announced several staffing changes and additions:
The e-newsletter of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, NASVF Net News, reports Sallie Traxler has become the Executive Director for the Council of Development Finance Agencies. Also, the e-newsletter reports Dan Loague has been promoted to the position of NASVF Executive Director.
Bill Borgmeyer has retired from his position as Coordinator of Technology Development for the Missouri Technology Corporation.
Shortly after a General Assembly vote last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell announced the bipartisan approval of the remaining components to the state’s economic stimulus package. The governor's plan is intended to fuel major new investment in communities across the state.
Legislation to create investment tax credits and a technology commercialization grant and loan program was approved by the Wisconsin Assembly just before the close of the legislative session. Intended to encourage high-tech industry and entrepreneurship in the state, Senate Bill 261 is designed to create approximately $62 million in new funding for start-ups.
Increased financial support for start-up companies and the research sector has the attention of Canadian Minister of Finance Ralph Goodale. In the Minister's 2004 budget report, released last month, venture capital (VC) initiatives totaling $270 million (CAN) are targeted for investment. Combined with private sector investments, total VC funding is expected to amount to $1 billion.
Although Massachusetts' universities may be at the fore of nanotechnology research and development (R&D), they must continue to win on research for the state to stay competitive for federal funds, suggests a recent report by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) and the Nano Science and Technology Institute (NSTI).
A significant reduction in employment among southwestern Pennsylvania's technology industries in 2002 was not enough to offset signs of a turnaround, according to new data released by the Pittsburgh Technology Council (PTC). Over the second half of the year, a turnaround began to emerge and technology companies accounted for nearly 17.5 percent of the region’s workforce, PTC's annual State of the Industry Report shows.
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced last month a partnership with the Loudoun County, Va., school district to donate $1 million per year to establish a biotech magnet program for area high school students.
Few economic sectors have experienced the combined economic, technological, social, biological, and – now with threats of mad cow and foot-and-mouth diseases – medical pressures that confront American agriculture. Adding the challenges of competing in the knowledge-based economy presents a formidable task for rural regions.
Complementing California’s support for New Valley Connexion, described above, is the state’s $2 million Rural E-Commerce program. Administered by the Division of Science, Technology and Innovation within the California Technology, Trade & Commerce Agency, Rural E-Commerce provides grants to non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and local governments for innovative, community-driven solutions to the telecommunications challenges faced by rural residents.
Eliminating all state taxes on long-term capital gains and providing incentives to encourage biotech start-ups and investment are among the recommendations advanced in The Competitive Edge: Rethinking Rhode Island Tax Policy for Success in the New Economy, the first report from the Tax Competitiveness Committee of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council (RIEPC).
With 26 percent more of its workforce involved in information technology (IT) than the national average and with IT-producing industries growing faster in the state than the national average, Connecticut has possibly felt the pinch of the IT worker shortage more than other parts of the country. Add to that the fact that the number of IT-related graduates from the state’s universities and community colleges declined during the late 1990s.
President Bush has announced several more nominations for key positions for the tech-based economic development community, including:
President Bush has announced several more nominations for key positions for the tech-based economic development community, including:
Roberto Salazar is leaving his post as the Director of the New Mexico Office of Science and Technology at the end of March to assume the position of State Director of the USDA's Rural Development Agency for New Mexico.
The SSTI Weekly Digest will be taking a brief spring break and will resume publication on Friday, April 6.
A new fund developed by the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) is expected to lead to greater commercialization of technologies in the northeast state. Created through a reserved proportion of MTI’s annual grantable funds, the Accelerated Commercialization Fund (ACF) will allow previously funded MTI companies the chance to achieve significant growth. To qualify for funding, companies must at a minimum demonstrate significant potential for financial and economic development returns.
Innovations in public and private institutions could be the key to aligning governance with opportunity, according to the Center for the Study of Rural America's latest annual report.
Looking to jumpstart the federal policy process regarding broadband Internet access, the Alliance for Public Technology (APT) has released A Nation of Laboratories, Broadband Experiments in The States, a report examining various broadband policies and programs nationwide.
For years, defining "high technology" and identifying industries that fit within that classification has been a difficult task loaded with political implications. AeA, for example, has used a definition of high tech in its publication Cyberstates that places heavy emphasis on information technology.