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President Barack Obama recently announced a pair of initiatives to provide American students better access to two-year degrees and technical training programs. Under the first program, American’s College Promise, the federal government would cover three-quarters of the cost of an average community college education for students who attend at least half-time and maintain a 2.5 GPA. States would be required to contribute the rest of the tuition funds.

As competition increases within the venture capital industry to fund the next Google or Uber, the most highly desirable startups often have multiple investment offers and must decide upon the best. There are several factors that can affect evaluation of potential equity investors. For many startups, the decision may focus solely on the terms of the deal.

As governors around the country begin their newest terms, their proposed budgets are beginning to take shape. Although few governors specifically target technology based economic development, after the first wave of budgets a variety of initiatives related to workforce development and higher education have garnered support.

President Obama recently announced that the University of Tennessee was awarded the $259 million Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI). The U.S. Department of Energy will commit $70 million to support the project with the remaining $189 million coming from IACMI partners including $15 million from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

Now in its 15th year, SSTI's Tech Talkin' Govs series has returned as governors across the country formally convene the 2015 legislative sessions. The series highlights new and expanded TBED proposals from governors' State of the State, Budget and Inaugural addresses. The first edition includes excerpts from speeches delivered in California, Kentucky, and Vermont.

Under the assumption that regulations place an unnecessary strain on the innovative free-market companies that create the jobs and industries needed to drive the economy, liberalization is oftentimes the go-to policy prescription for states or countries hoping to spur innovation. Although proponents of deregulation cite incidents of government overreach and inefficiency as evidence of the state suppressing the market’s innovativeness, the government does not always hinder innovation, according to articles featured in the January 2015 issue of Foreign Affairs.

Global patent applications jumped by 11 percent in 2013, while patents granted rose by a more modest 4 percent in the top five worldwide patent offices. The 2013 data was recently released by IP5, a cooperative effort of the European, Japanese, South Korean, Chinese and U.S. patent organizations, which together represent about 80 percent of the world’s patent activity. China has now solidly emerged as the top nation for patent applications and first filings after first taking the lead in 2011. China has also become the top country of origin for global patent filings, with the U.S.

Massachusetts remains the most tech-oriented state economy in the country, according to the latest edition of the annual Massachusetts Innovation Index. Nearly 38 percent of the state’s workforce is employed in tech industries, the highest share in the country, and Massachusetts generally outperforms other leading tech states in tech industry output, research and licensing. The MassTech Collaborative warns, however, that the state’s innovation economy is experiencing some of the same negative trends present in its peer tech states.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced the creation a new public-private partnership to support the development of a statewide, fiber broadband infrastructure with a focus on supporting economic and social prosperity across the commonwealth. The ambitious initiative would provide the entire state with high-speed internet – with the first components scheduled to be operational in less than two years. When completed, the more than 3,000 miles of fiber will be in place across the state.

U.S. companies performed over $294 billion in research and development (R&D) in 2011, according to the Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS) – a business survey conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Science Foundation. Companies funded an overwhelming majority of the industrial R&D conducted in the U.S. (81.2 percent, approximately $238.8 billion). Approximately $55.3 million of industrial R&D (18.8 percent) was funded by other sources, predominately from the federal government ($31.3 billion). U.S.

Gov. Terry Branstad announced the release of the findings from the Iowa’s Re-envisioned Economic Development Roadmap  – a year-long effort to set a future strategic direction for economic development in Iowa. During the year-long study, the authors from Battelle examined the current position of Iowa’s economy as compared to the nation and benchmarked states.

A total of $30.8 billion for science and engineering (S&E) was given by federal agencies to 1,073 academic institutions across the United States in FY 2012, according to new research from the National Science Foundation. Although these obligations are 2 percent less than they were the year before, commitments to science and engineering increased more than 9 percent from 2007 to 2012. During that same time, per capita commitments to academic S&E decreased 7 percent.

Funding for public colleges decreased by 12 percent overall from FY03 to FY12, while tuition rates for all public colleges rose by 55 percent during the same time, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).  Driven in part by the impact of the recent recession on state budgets, the decline in state funding has had a significant impact on college affordability for students and their family.

In fall 2013, 21 federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) in the U.S. employed 2,613 postdoctoral researchers in 2012, down 6.4 percent from the previous year, according to a recently released InfoBrief from the National Science Foundation. Postdocs, who help government agencies meet their research and analytic needs and in turn receive relevant training and experience, are more than 75 percent male and more than 50 percent international, according to the brief.

This week, President Obama signed off on the continuing resolution omnibus spending package that will keep the federal government open for another nine months (see last week’s analysis).The spending bill provides stable funding for R&D and most research agencies, according to analysis by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced the fourth round of regional economic development grants to support tailored approaches to job creation in different areas of the state. The $709.2 million in awards are part of the state’s ongoing Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) initiative begun in 2011. Regional strategies have long been a key component of state development policy, enabling policymakers to encourage institutional partnerships with a focus on the specific needs of local economies.

Last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched the New York State Innovation Venture Capital Fund (NYSIVC or The Fund), a $50 million fund that is expected to leverage at least $100 million in private capital to support early stage companies in high growth areas such as advanced materials, clean technology, life sciences/biotechnology, and information technology.

Earlier this week, congressional appropriators reached a tentative agreement on spending levels for the 2015 fiscal year just a few days before the Thursday deadline. The continuing resolution omnibus, “cromnibus,” spending package would, if approved by the House, Senate and president, avert a government shutdown and again defer budget negotiations until next September. Under the agreement, most agency budgets would remain at similar levels to those enacted for FY14.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe hopes to increase the commonwealth’s profile in the global life sciences industry through his recently launched Virginia Bioscience Initiative. The initiative will develop cross-agency linkages, as well as public-private partnerships, to support entrepreneurs, use big data to drive new discoveries and speed the commercialization of new technologies. Gov.

This week marks 2014 Computer Science Education Week, the Obama administration’s call to the education, business, foundational, and nonprofit communities to help support and expand access to computer science education in American schools. On Monday, the administration announced several commitments aimed at providing millions of additional students with computer since education, including:

President Obama has announced two new competitions for manufacturing innovation hubs as Congress debates whether or not to fund a national network of innovation institutes (see related article). The first hub would foster research and commercialization collaborations around smart manufacturing for the Department of Energy. The second would develop flexible hybrid electronics technology at the Department of Defense.

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez announced details of a new $100 million grant competition to expand apprenticeship opportunities in high-growth industries. The program will specifically target industries that are using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers.  By investing in collaborative efforts around the country, officials hope the program will help develop clear career pathways through apprenticeship, particularly for underrepresented populations.

Included in the continuing resolution/omnibus spending bill for FY15 is $10 million for the Regional Innovation program. The Regional Innovation Program was authorized under the American COMPETES Act and is designed to provide funding to support regional innovation activities. The program received its first funding of $10 million in FY14 after extensive work on the Hill by SSTI, its members and others.

The U.S.s entrepreneurial culture, long celebrated as a key element in the country’s economic success, is being threatened by several long-term trends, according to a paper from the Brookings Institution’s Robert Litan and Ian Hathaway. Over the past 30 years, U.S. business starts have slid downward, with many experts and policymakers offering their own explanations for the trend. Litan and Hathaway examine the data and note two possible causes: regional population decline and business consolidation.

Around the world, national governments are working to cultivate their innovation economies and increase their global competiveness by creating and increasing support for government-led initiatives. Leaders of advanced economies recognize that their positions as global leaders face a murky future due to the emergence of new economies. In turn, officials from emerging economies realize that supporting innovation is necessary for their economies to continue their rapid growth.