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The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released an assessment of its Engineering Research Centers (ERC) Program. The two-part study looked at two key aspects of the ERC program: ERC- industry interaction and effectiveness of former ERC graduate students in the workforce.

Industry associations are expressing concern that the diversion of user fees from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is adversely affecting the speed of innovation. The PTO receives no taxpayer dollars and is supported entirely by user fees; however, for the last several years, most of those user fees have gone to the government's general fund to help balance the budget rather than to support PTO operations.

The R&D Credit Coalition recently released a report that concludes the federal R&D tax credit would pay for itself by boosting productivity and economic growth. According to the report, making the R&D tax credit permanent would stimulate an additional $41 billion in R&D activity by U.S. companies between 1998 and 2010.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge recently announced the release of The Technology 21 Report — The Keystone Spirit: Putting Technology to Work. Commissioned by Ridge and the Ben Franklin/IRC Partnership Board, the Technology 21 initiative is an industry-led project that will implement a comprehensive technology policy for Pennsylvania.

The Tech 21 report calls for:

On Monday, the Clinton Administration released its detailed budget proposal for FY99 that requests a 2.57% increase in research and development funding. The FY99 budget proposal calls for increasing spending on R&D to roughly $78.16 billion, up $1.96 billion from FY98.

Dr. Rita R. Colwell, the current President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a former member of the National Science Board, has been nominated by President Clinton to serve as the next deputy director of the National Science Foundation.

Joseph Magno, the executive director of the New York State Science and Technology Foundation, has resigned his position. He has accepted a position with the State University of New York Research Foundation.

The United States could be on the verge of a major resurgence in the funding of research and development (R&D), according to the annual forecast by Battelle Memorial Institute and R&D Magazine. R&D spending in 1998 is expected to reach more than $215 billion, a 4.66 percent increase over the $206 billion that the National Science Foundation estimates was spent in 1997. The prediction comes after years of stagnation in R&D spending.

Dr. Rita R. Colwell, the current President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a former member of the National Science Board, has been nominated by President Clinton to serve as the next deputy director of the National Science Foundation.

The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) has released its 1997 Development Report Card for the States. The annual report card assesses the strengths and weaknesses of each state's economy and its potential for future growth. Its rankings are watched closely by state development officials.

The December 19, 1997 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest reported an incorrect FY 1998 appropriation for the Advanced Technology Program (ATP). The correct amount is $192.5 million.

Price Waterhouse recently announced that venture capital investments hit an all time record in the third quarter of 1997. Total investments exceeded $3.5 billion, eclipsing the previous high of $3.2 billion reported in the second quarter of 1997. Compared to the third quarter of 1996, investments increased 75%, the largest percentage increase measured by the survey.