innovation

Tech Talkin’ Govs 2024: Innovation agendas from the governors’ State of the State addresses

With the start of the new year, governors have begun to deliver their State of the State addresses, laying out proposals for new programs and discussing the conditions of their states. As states’ revenue levels return to more typical levels, lawmakers, with a few exceptions, are taking a more cautious, or constrained, view of their funding priorities and proposed initiatives. Many governors also appear to be more restrained in their addresses this year, speaking more to the previous year’s successes, suggesting lawmakers tighten their state’s fiscal belts while providing targeted investments into key or signature programs, as well as previously proposed initiatives, rather than rolling out new programs, except in the innovation space related to semiconductors and recently announced tech hubs.  

Biden Administration releases executive order regarding future of AI in the US including specific directions for DOE, NSF, DOC and SBA

The Biden Administration issued an executive order earlier this week that provides guidance on the safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the U.S. The EO includes guidance for agencies to work to provide new opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs in AI and other directives.

Selective eligibility for corporate tax credits should produce broader public benefits

Not all publicly traded companies use savings from tax cuts the same way, NBER researchers James Cloyne, Ezgi Kurt, and Paolo Surico report in “Who gains from Corporate Tax Cuts?  While changes in marginal tax rates and investment tax credits (ITC) can have significant effects on the behavior of publicly traded C-corporations, manufacturers and goods producers are much more likely to recirculate the savings into additional capital expenditure and employment than firms in the service sector.  Publicly traded service sector companies typically use the proceeds from a tax cut to increase dividends to current investors in the firms.

SBA makes four awards through its Regional Innovation Cluster program

SBA has recently announced four contract awards to small businesses and entrepreneur support organization (ESO) partners, expanding the SBA’s Regional Innovation Clusters (RIC) to 16 hubs nationwide. Two contract awardees are new to the program in 2023, while two others are returning awardees, positioned with new contracts to continue and expand work in their respective regions.

SBA establishes the Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee

SBA's Office of Investment and Innovation recently established the Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee (IIEAC) to serve as an independent source of information, advice, and recommendations to the Administrator on matters broadly related to the U.S. startup and small business innovation ecosystem. 

Defense makes $238M CHIPS and Science Act awards for eight microelectronics regional innovation hubs

The Department of Defense announced yesterday that it issued $238 million from "Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act" funding for the establishment of eight Microelectronics Commons (Commons) regional innovation hubs. With $2 billion in funding for Fiscal Years 2023 through 2027, the Microelectronics Commons program aims to leverage these hubs to accelerate domestic hardware prototyping and "lab-to-fab" transition of semiconductor technologies. The hope is this will help mitigate supply chain risks and ultimately expedite access to the most cutting-edge microchips for U.S. troops.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor says US entrepreneurship is on the rise

Those who gather data know that the results collected in 2020 during pandemic shutdowns do not reveal actual trends. This phenomenon was the case for a recent survey by Babson College researchers for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Adult Population Survey (GEM APS). They found that rates of entrepreneurship, which had been on the rise since 2015, dropped in 2020. However, their newest research shows an upward trend in 2021 and 2022, when the U.S. had the highest levels of entrepreneurial activity since their first survey in 1999. In 2022, 19% of working-age adults were in the process of running a business or were running a company less than 42 months old.

White House R&D priorities include new focus on regional innovation; other priorities slightly shift

A memo sent out last week by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy outlines this year’s R&D priorities. Federal science agencies will use this memo to design their budget requests for the fiscal year 2025.

Harnessing the energy of three states

Health is one of the most pressing issues in the U.S. Now, thanks to National Science Foundation's Type I NSF Engine development awards, teams throughout the U.S. will be focusing on technology-based solutions to this issue. This week we highlight three SSTI members whose NSF Engine Awards concentrate on health. These include Emory University’s project to advance health equity and diagnostic technologies (SSTI member Georgia Tech is also on this team), The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement’s (a health policy center administratively housed within SSTI member The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) project to promote fair health and economic outcomes in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and Washington University-St. Louis’ project to advance neuroscience technologies to improve cognitive wellness.

NSF Regional Innovation Engines program selects 16 teams for the final round of competition

The National Science Foundation announced 16 finalists for the first-ever NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) competition, spanning a range of key technology areas and societal and economic challenges highlighted in the "CHIPS and Science Act." The NSF Engines will link up with local and regional partners to expand innovation nationwide and create collaborative and inclusive technology-driven innovation ecosystems.

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