Since the widespread usage of the internet in the 1990s, the question of who has access to broadband and the definition of high-speed internet has bedeviled federal, state and local officials.  Attempts to map which addresses have access to high-speed service date back at least 20 years.

The 2022 National Defense Strategy, released last week, emphasizes the need to accelerate the Pentagon’s capacity for buying and deploying emerging technologies. Technology sectors called out as targets include advanced materials, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, clean energy, directed energy, hypersonics, microelectronics, quantum science and space. The report indicates that the Department of Defense (DOD) is considering R&D funding, ecosystem support and adapting civilian technologies among the tools it will use to pursue emerging tech.

The National Science Foundation recently announced the four 2022 NSF INCLUDES awardees. These new alliances will each receive $10 million over five years to contribute to building an inclusive STEM workforce. The awardees will tackle issues like increasing data science capacity at minority-serving institutions (MSIs), increasing the representation of Native American and Alaska Native students in STEM fields, and supporting equitable pathways to postdoctoral fellowship positions.

The 2022 NSF INCLUDES Alliances are:

With 133 ballot measures before voters on Nov. 8, a gamut of topics will be decided. Those outlined below are the measure that could affect the innovation economy, ranging from initiatives that would affect higher education, to broadband expansion and measures intended to boost state economies.

In an effort to alleviate the nationwide shortage of semiconductors, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) announced two cross-sector partnerships, one with Intel Corp. and the other partnership with Micron Technology, Inc.

On the closing days of the previous federal fiscal year and with an Oct. 21 deadline looming for new proposals, the National Science Foundation announced the first 24 awards for a new program to support “Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems” (OSE). NSF’s goal is to exploit the advantages of using open-source development to find technological solutions to problems of national and societal importance.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science recently announced new requirements for all research proposal applications. Applicants must submit a plan for Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research — or PIER Plan — with their research proposal during the solicitation process. The PIER Plans will be required beginning in FY 2023 and will require investigators to describe strategies to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in all research projects.

Creating a vison for United States leadership in advanced manufacturing, the National Science and Technology Council has released a strategy to grow the economy, create jobs, enhance environmental sustainability, address climate change, strengthen supply chains, ensure national security, and improve healthcare for the next four years.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced 11 additional states whose SSBCI plans have been approved: Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Utah.

SSTI is pleased to announce a new project with the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to build a Community of Practice focused on EDA’s important technology-based economic development (TBED) investment priority area. This new partnership will help regions across the entire country become more resilient, more equitable, and more competitive in the global innovation-centered economy.

Despite COVID-induced setbacks continuing to keep some people out of offices and laboratories, new Business Enterprise Research and Development Survey (BERD) data reveals that domestic research and development (R&D) spending, although slowing, is still on an uptrend.

Higher education enrollment dropped 1.1% between fall 2021 and 2022, a slight reprieve from historic COVID-induced drop-offs, as revealed by new preliminary data from the National Student Clearinghouse. Since fall 2020, enrollment has decreased by a combined 3.2% for graduate and undergraduate enrollment, representing a drop of approximately 1.5 million students since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a recent study titled Does NIH select the right healthcare ventures through the SBIR grant program?, researchers from Rutgers University and the University of Connecticut took advantage of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to conduct a natural experiment.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced a new initiative — the Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT) initiative and seeks proposals to address barriers in the STEM workforce by encouraging partnerships among industry, educational, and government organizations.

Thirty-six states are holding gubernatorial elections this November, with voters in eight of those states (Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, and Oregon), choosing a new governor to replace a term-limited incumbent. In two states, Connecticut and Georgia, the incumbent is facing a re-match with their 2018 opponent, while in Alaska and Maine, the incumbent is being challenged by his/her predecessor, whom they defeated in 2018. Florida Gov. Ron De Santis is being challenged by former Gov.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) recently announced its largest POWER (Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization) Initiative funding package. This funding package awards nearly $47 million to 52 projects in 181 counties to support economic diversification and mitigate job losses from coal-related industries in Appalachian communities. 

In a move to strengthen the domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), announced $2.8 billion for 20 companies in 12 states to extract and process battery materials and manufacture components while creating good-paying jobs.

The U.S. National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program has revised the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Type-2 NSF Engines program proposals, moving the deadline up to Jan. 18, 2023, among other changes, which are detailed in the revised BAA and key related resource documents that were published on Oct. 17, 2022.

Between federal interest rates over 3% and post-pandemic economic impacts that affect macroeconomic trends, many have predicted a continued decline in venture capital outcomes, only some of which has held true through Q3. 

The National Institute of Standards of Technology (NIST) is seeking public input through Requests for Information (RFIs) for two programs under the CHIPS Act. Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E.

In another illustration of how women’s participation in the tech industry continues to lag, SmartAsset recently released its annual report looking at Best Cities for Women in Tech. The report finds country-wide, the percentage of women in STEM is growing, but that growth is occurring at a dwindling rate, and that women make up only about 20% of the field’s total workforce.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently released the first draft of a new national broadband map providing a more granular look at broadband service throughout the country.

New York became the first state to enact a temporary ban on new cryptocurrency mining permits at fossil fuel plants in a move aimed at addressing the environmental concerns over the energy-intensive activity. The legislation, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, will impose a two-year moratorium on crypto-mining companies seeking new permits to retrofit some of the state’s oldest fossil fuel plants into digital mining operations.

Earlier today, the Economic Development Administration announced the 2022 notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the Build to Scale program. State and local governments, nonprofits, institutions of higher education, National Labs and others are eligible to compete for a total of $45 million in funds to support new and expanded initiatives that support regional commercialization, entrepreneurship and capital formation efforts.

EDA has slightly restructured the program for this year’s competition, with two funding streams and two levels of awards for each.

North Carolina is continuing to improve its innovation standing and its research and development enterprise continue to lead among other innovation metrics, according to a new state report. The North Carolina Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation published the eighth edition of its Tracking Innovation report. This report uses 39 measures of innovation capacity to evaluate North Carolina’s standing against other states in the nation.