In the October 29, 1999 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2002. Information in this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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USDA Awards $13 Million for Rural Telecommunications Program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded almost $13 million in grants for distance learning and telemedicine projects in rural areas of 34 states and Puerto Rico. The announcement was made on the 50th anniversary of the program. Since the program’s inception, $11 billion in loans and grants have been made, resulting in more than 1 million miles of phone lines and thousands of miles of optic cable being laid.

The distance learning grants will provide students in rural schools the opportunity to take college preparatory classes taught by an instructor located miles away.  The telemedicine grants will provide life-enhancing and life-saving health technology, allowing patients in rural clinics to be examined by medical specialists in distant locations, providing speedier diagnosis.

The accompanying table provides the number of grants awarded in each category as well as the total dollar amount by state. 

For additional information on these specific awards, contact La Jaycee Brown at 202/720-9741. More general information on USDA’s Rural Distance and Telemedicine Program can be found by visiting their website at http://www.usda.gov/rus/dlt/dlml.htm

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Air Force DUS&T Offers Pre-Solicitation Workshop

The Air Force Dual Use Science & Technology Program (DUS&T) will be holding a pre-solicitation conference to provide businesses an opportunity to participate in the process of generating topics for the Air Force DUS&T solicitation to be released in January.

The DUS&T Program is designed to help the Department of Defense partner with industry to jointly fund the development of technologies that have both military utility and sufficient commercial potential to support a viable industrial base. This is accomplished through streamlined contracting procedures, and cost sharing between the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the individual Services, and industry.

At the upcoming conference, the Air Force will provide an overview to DUS&T and the FY 2001 solicitation cycle. Four technical sessions will be held to present and discuss the roadmaps for four technology thrusts: information systems and human factors; advanced materials and manufacturing processes; power, including space-based systems; and sensors.

The workshop will be held at the Hope Hotel & Conference Center in Dayton, Ohio on November 9. Workshop information may be obtained at http://afdustreg.dytn.veridian.com. More information on the DUS&T program may be found at: http://www.dtic.mil/dust/  

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DOT Announces 1999 SBIR Phase I Awards

The U.S. Department of Transportation has recommended that 16 proposals from 14 companies receive funding under the agency’s 1999 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I solicitation. The maximum size of each contract is $100,000.

Awards were distributed among the following states (number of awards is in parentheses): California (2), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Florida (2), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Maryland (1), Massachusetts (5), Michigan (1), and Virginia (1).

More information on the contract awards can be found by visiting: http://www.volpe.dot.gov/sbir/  

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Nominations Sought for Public Service Excellence Awards

Public Service Excellence Awards (PSEA) are national awards sponsored by the Public Employees Roundtable. These awards seek to: 1) promote excellence in public service; 2) recognize outstanding contributions by public servants at the federal, state and local levels; 3) encourage the exchange of ideas and best practices; and 4) promote community service.

The seven PSEA categories include: federal, state, city, county, intergovernmental, international and community service. Because teamwork is an important part of the Roundtable’s focus, only programs involving two or more employees will be considered by the selection committee.

Nominations must be postmarked by January 21, 2000. To obtain a nomination packet, contact Ms. Grace Williams, Program Manager for the Public Employees Roundtable, (202) 401-4344; Email: GWilliams@theroundtable.org  

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Socioeconomic Data Website Up

The Economic Development Administration has funded the creation of EconData.Net (http://www.econdata.net/), a website providing a searchable database with approximately 400 links to web-related socioeconomic data resources. EconData.Net provides a single site for referencing many materials used for developing science and technology indices or for comparing a state or region’s economic posture with other jurisdictions.

More than 300 information links are sorted across ten subject categories, including:

These same resource links are also organized by provider. An additional 75 sites containing on-line data sets and statistical references are collected under a third grouping on EconData.Net.

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Florida Space Research Institute Off the Ground

The Florida legislature recently approved legislation creating the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI), an independent, industry-led organization designed to coordinate the space-related research capabilities of several public and private universities. FSRI will strive to expand the universities’ involvement in space research and education, and to insure that state academic resources are available to support the space-related needs of industry, NASA, and the military.

The seven-member board, which includes representatives of Enterprise Florida, the Spaceport Florida Authority, the Florida Space Business Roundtable, the Florida Aviaiton Aerospace Alliance, Bionetics, Command & Control Technologies, and Boeing, held its first board meetings in early October.

In the near term, FSRI will help to administer $200,000 in Spaceport Authority funds to match NASA grants to Florida universities and colleges. The institute will also support a partnership between NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Florida universities to develop a biotechnology and microgravity payload facility at Kennedy.

For more information on FSRI, contact the Spaceport Florida Authority at http://www.spaceportflorida.com/index.html  

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