Goal is improved service delivery, advocacy for tech community
To produce a more focused and effective effort in the areas of commercialization and advocacy, the Illinois Coalition has divided into two separate public-private organizations.
The Kauffman Foundation recently launched "Giving Back to Entrepreneurship," a website dedicated to informing entrepreneurs how they can use their energy and creativity to support their communities and help jumpstart the next generation of entrepreneurs.
As a percentage, Silicon Valley has lost more jobs over the past four years than any U.S. metropolitan area since 1939, but evidence shows the region is stabilizing with a return to levels reminiscent of the late 1990s. Funding for venture capital is up, per capita income is increasing, and research and development funding has reached new highs. Yet, the region's most striking feature of late is, perhaps, the way it is growing, according to the 2005 Index of Silicon Valley.
Editor's Note: Last week's issue of the Digest included a Recent Research item, Are Leading Firms Team Players? that drew an animated reaction from a reader whose opinion SSTI holds in great respect because of his contributions to improving the understanding and delivery of technology-based economic development initiatives. As a result, Dr.
Governors will be forced to make cuts in education, health care and transportation budgets in light of the recently passed stimulus package that will reduce state revenues but provide no financial assistance for states facing increasing health care costs, says the National Governors' Association (NGA).
Louisiana Governor Mike Foster's economic development plan calls for $37 million for a Biosciences Initiative, at the state's top research universities, $15 million to support industry clusters for regional universities, and $8.4 million to spur enrollment growth in community and technical colleges. Coupled by a $150 million bond issue, funding for bioscience endeavors would equal a $187 million investment.
Because knowledge-based services can be supplied anywhere across the world due to increased international investment in IT infrastructure, future U.S. competitiveness hinges on diversification and broadening of the technology-based manufacturing sector, according to NIST Senior Economist George Tassey.
To shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the region's biotechnology cluster, Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Economic Development (CED) has published A Biotechnology Action Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania. The CED report says the Pittsburgh biotechnology cluster largely depends on the amount of available venture capital and the development of new technologies and that total funding levels must be increased to continue biotech development.
President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.
San Diego Community College Chancellor Augie Gallego has been selected as the new chairman of the American Council of Education, only the second community college executive to hold the position since the organization's founding more than 80 years ago.
President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.
San Diego Community College Chancellor Augie Gallego has been selected as the new chairman of the American Council of Education, only the second community college executive to hold the position since the organization's founding more than 80 years ago.
Rod Linton has been tapped to lead Utah's new Office of Science & Technology within the Dept. of Community & Economic Development. Mike Keene is the new State Science Advisor and Director of the Centers of Excellence Program.
Shaye Mandle has resigned as president of the Illinois Coalition to accept a position as the new executive director of the East West Corporate Corridor Association in DuPage County.
George Newstrom was sworn in as the Virginia Secretary of Technology. Newstrom succeeds Don Upson, who is returning to the private sector for technology consulting.
Gov. Don Siegelman has named Anne Payne to director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Payne has been serving as ADECA's assistant director since last August.
Stan Sokul has been named executive director of the PCAST, the President's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology. Sokul formerly served as a lobbyist on Internet policy issues.
Tracy Taylor has been named to serve as CEO for the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp (KTEC). Taylor fills the position vacated by Rich Bendis.
With one of the country's largest concentration of industrial and academic scientists and engineers, it is only fitting that Michigan hosts SSTI's Sixth Annual Conference, October 2-3, 2002.
A recent collection of weekly headlines gathered by the Montana Associated Technology Roundtables brought to our attention the annual world academic rankings compiled by the Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
For the past two years, the school has identified the world's top 500 academic institutions based on a weighted scale of six indicators:
The first two installments of SSTI's annual look at how TBED will play in the 2005 legislative priorities of the governors can be found in the Digest archives on our website: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm
Indiana
Business community advocacy for public investments in technology-based economic development (TBED) may make the difference between legislators appropriating programs $1 million or $100 million.
We greatly appreciate the praise and suggestions we've received from readers regarding the Tech-based Economic Development (TBED) Resource Center, a cooperative project of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Technology Policy and SSTI. The new online library contains links to more than 1,300 research reports, strategic plans, best practices and impact analyses from state and federal government, university researchers and foundations.
To fulfill a goal within the state's 2010 Initiative of becoming a recognized leader in research and technology development, the South Dakota Department of Tourism and State Development will operate an Office of Commercialization under the direction of Mel Ustad, current Interim Vice President for Research at the University of South Dakota.
Anyone working with an entrepreneur knows they like to write their own rules. The latest survey characterizing the world's pool of entrepreneurial talent finds a large majority of them also write their own checks to finance their businesses. It's easier to write - and change - the rules when you also control the purse strings.
Large industrial or technology firms are often sought by economic development recruiters to serve as anchors for cluster development. Once an anchor is attracted, policymakers often nurture local industrial districts as ways to promote transmission of technical know-how and deepen industrial relationships. Does the strategy work?