international

Shortly after the first anniversary of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act — see the March 28, 2012 issue of the Digest) Mary Jo White was sworn in as the 31st Chair of the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). In the crowdfunding and tech communities, Chairperson White's appointment sparked significant discussion about the future of SEC regulation of equity-based crowdfunding and when the regulations would be released. According to a recent Bloomberg article, Chairperson White intends to prioritize establishing rules mandated by the JOBS Act by pushing for changes that will allow hedge funds to advertise to the general consumers. Although there is no clear timeline for the release of these equity-based crowdfunding rules — experts believe it could be as early as the end of 2013 or well into 2014 — some important questions remain:

Recent national strategies for innovation investment have been publicized by the governing parties in Brazil and Australia, highlighting both a growing global focus on national innovation as well as a growing global divide over how public investments are paid for.

In his first speech as secretary of State, John Kerry declared that U.S. economic competitiveness should be the centerpiece of American foreign policy. In the weeks following his appointment, the U.S. government has signaled a push to work with international partners to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and protect tech innovation at home. Two key elements of this strategy include continued harmonization of global antitrust laws and new efforts to protect American intellectual property from theft.

Following up on an announcement made in September, the Citizen and Immigration Ministry of Canada will launch a new visa program on April 1 to recruit innovators and entrepreneurs to the country. The Start-Up Visa Program will connect immigrant entrepreneurs with organizations who will be able to provide services and expertise to these entrepreneurs to help create startup businesses. Initially, venture capital groups, angel organizations, and incubators will be tapped to provide these services.

The Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) will invest $500M in launching four new technology and innovation facilities this year. Two facilities will be based in Saudi Arabia, and the other two will be built in India and China. SABIC's expansion will bring the organization's number of research facilities around the world to 18. The new facilities will focus on commercializing university technologies, training students and academics in entrepreneurship, and cultivating innovation infrastructure that can help Saudi Arabia develop industrial clusters.

On her last day, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced several State Department initiatives that aim to have a global impact. A number of those that will be funded focus on technology-based development. The program wPower seeks to advance women's clean energy entrepreneurship around the world by supporting 7,000 women to launch small businesses around energytechnologies that might increase energy access in their area. Another initiative is the Alliance for Affordable Internet that will promote internet access in low-income communities through partnerships between governments, regulators and the private sector. The Department of State also will use funds to recognize women scientists in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region through their newly establish U.S.-ASEAN Prize for Women in Science. Read more...

Four have made it to the final round of the EU's Future and Emerging Technologies Flagships program in which 26 projects submitted proposals for funding. Each project is set to receive approximately $72 million from the EU's research budget that will be matched by national governments and other sources. If milestones are met within the first 30 months, the awards could total upwards of $1.33 billion each over the next decade. Inspired by the success of the CERN laboratories on the Swiss-French border, EU leaders hope that these long term investments in potentially “disruptive technologies” will give Europe a competitive edge in technology. The two winners will be announced by the EU's executive branch in Brussels on January 28, 2013. Read the announcement...

Babson University researchers report that nearly half of all the world's entrepreneurs are between the ages of 25-35 years, according to the 2012 edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Also, in all geographic regions, 25-34 year olds reported the highest rates of entrepreneurship. Babson researchers, however, emphasize that large numbers of entrepreneurs are found at all age ranges. Read more...

Fostering regional innovation is imperative to strengthening our national economy and crafting public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a key strategy for catalyzing regional economic growth. While states should continue to lead regional innovation efforts, the federal government can play a critical supporting role. The Brookings Institution proposes the establishment of a PPP unit within the White House to coordinate Federal assistance. Examples of effective federal-regional PPP units already are active within the Department of Transportation and the White House Startup America Initiative.

With $130 million in funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), seven universities will establish development labs to address global development challenges through science and technology in partnership with agency experts and policymakers. A new discipline of development science that combines math, science and engineering at the University of California-Berkeley and a Social Entrepreneur Accelerator at Duke University focused on health care delivery are among the projects supported as part of USAID's Higher Education Solutions Network. The network has up to five years to achieve its goals, and for every $10 of USAID funding, the universities and their partners are contributing an additional $6.60 to the network.