Should policymakers focus on urban core centers as keys to economic growth or seek greater economic equity in the less developed periphery? A new study on regional policy and economic geography suggest policies should be directed toward core growth.

Arizona State University professor James Collins is the new assistant director for biological sciences at the National Science Foundation.

Larry Cox is the new director of the Ball State University Entrepreneurship Program, effective Aug. 22.

Arizona State University professor James Collins is the new assistant director for biological sciences at the National Science Foundation.

Larry Cox is the new director of the Ball State University Entrepreneurship Program, effective Aug. 22.

Louisiana Department of Economic Development announced Robert Fudickar will be the technology industry director for the state agency.

Russel Hancock is the new president and CEO of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is promoting Chris Israel to serve as coordinator for international intellectual property enforcement. The new position will coordinate interagency protection efforts to combat international IP piracy.

William "Bill" Mahoney is the new president and CEO of the South Carolina Research Authority.

Joan Myers, president and CEO of Raleigh-based N.C. Technology Association, is the 2005-2007 president for the Council of Regional Information Technology Associations (CRITA).

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski appointed Bill Noll as commissioner of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. Noll has been serving as the governor's communications director.

Jack Pfunder is the new executive director of the Manufacturers Resource Center in Bethlehem, Pa.

Pat Snider, the first CEO for BioGenerator in St. Louis, announced her departure from the two-year-old organization by the end of the year.

The new director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship at Purdue University will be Jerry Woodall.

President Bush is nominating John Young Jr. to serve as director of Defense Research & Engineering. Young is currently Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition.

SSTI is pleased to give regular Digest readers the first peek at a PDF version of the brochure for SSTI's 9th annual conference, Investing in a Brighter Future: Building Tech-based Economies, to be held in Atlanta on October 19-21, 2005.

Expressing concern over the nation's ability to sustain its scientific and technological superiority throughout the 21st Century, 15 leading business organizations have released an action plan that aims to double the number of science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates by 2015.

Following defeat at the polls two years ago, Ohio's state legislature has agreed nearly unanimously to again have voters decide on whether or not the state can issue bonds in support of the final component of Gov. Bob Taft's tech-based economic development strategy -- Ohio's Third Frontier Initiative.

The year-long battle between Lafayette Utilities System (LUS) and competitors BellSouth Louisiana and Cox Communications over the utility company's proposed Fiber for the Future project came to an end last month when voters approved the $125 million fiber optics plan by a vote of 62 percent to 38 percent.

Increasing and modernizing university research capacity is a priority for many states. Contrary to programmatic or operational appropriations being required annually, funding for such construction projects can be phased over decades as part of a state's larger capital budget/bond programs. Recent research from the National Science Foundation (NSF) documents the results of the increased importance placed in university research building programs.

While local workforce boards are using substantial funds for worker training under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), little is known on a national level about the outcomes of those trained, says a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

A partnership between U.S. universities, research centers, private sector corporations, and Indian institutions recently was formed to improve engineering education in India and offer U.S. faculty the opportunity to collaborate with Indian researchers.

Partisan politics take a back seat when the nation's governors talk about the need for stronger national innovation policies. Ample proof of this is offered policy position statements approved at the two most recent meetings of the Western Governors' Association and the National Governors Association.

The yearly dollar amount of research and experimentation (R&E) tax credit claims grew twice as fast as company and other nonfederally funded R&D expenditures between 1990 and 2001, a new National Science Foundation (NSF) InfoBrief reports. In contrast, direct federal funding for industrial R&D declined through much of the 1990s, both in absolute terms and relative to industry-funded R&D.

As most practitioners know, measuring progress for tech-based economic development efforts can be difficult given the long lead time necessary for most research investments to yield results. Consequently, many programs rely on interim measures to evaluate a policy or program's impact.

Do women shy away from competition? Do men compete too much? In a recent working paper published by the National Bureau of Economics Research (NBER), economists Muriel Niederle and Lise Vesterlund answer yes to both questions after measuring performance and preferences of men and women in a controlled environment.