In the February 18, 2000 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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$1.9 Billion Illinois VentureTech Proposed
As part of his FY 2001 budget request, Illinois Governor George Ryan announced a five-year, $1.9 billion package of technology-related initiatives intended to put Illinois in a leadership position among states in science and technology. Illinois VentureTech includes several education and computer technology acquisition programs and the following S&T and research-related initiatives:

Some of the funding for Illinois Venture Tech would be derived from the state’s tobacco settlement monies. In addition, Governor Ryan is proposing to authorize use of up to $800 million in state-directed venture capital over the next three years to increase the amount of investment funding available in Illinois. Public investment contributors would include the Illinois Development Finance Authority, the State Board of Investment, and the State Teachers’ Retirement System along with a five-year allocation in state budget.

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Venture Capital Explodes in 1999
The most recent PricewaterhouseCoopers Moneytree™ survey reported $35.6 billion in venture capital investments were made in 1999 – 150% higher than the record survey results collected in 1998. In fact, at $14.69 billion, fourth quarter 1999 investments alone surpassed the survey results for all of 1998.

For the entire year of 1999, the number of companies receiving funds rose 41% to 4,006. In addition, average funding per company increased 71% to $8.9 million. Technology companies and Internet businesses claimed more than 90% of the venture capital investments for 1999 with investments jumping from $10.8 billion in 1998 to $32.4 billion in 1999. Internet investment companies increased their funding by more than six times, with funding climbing from $3.4 billion in 1998 to $19.9 billion in 1999 – this increase accounted for 56% of the total venture capital investments. Among Internet companies, business to consumer e-commerce sites received $4.46 billion, a 1,092% increase in funding levels over 1998.

By region, Silicon Valley received $5.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 1999, with a yearly total of a record $13.4 billion. Following were the New England area with $4.1 billion and the New York Metro area with $2.5 billion in 1999. All 10 regions of the country experienced some growth. The accompanying table (http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/021800t.htm) presents the survey results by state.

For more information and to see a complete breakdown of funding by topic, please visit the PricewaterhouseCoopers web site: http://204.198.129.80

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Kentucky Innovation Act Calls for $53 Million S&T Investment
Kentucky Governor Paul Patton and House Speaker Jody Richardson have announced a new technology bill to help Kentucky develop an innovation-driven economy. House Bill 572, the Kentucky Innovation Act, is a result of the Science and Technology Strategy designed by the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation in August, 1999 (see September 3, 1999 SSTI Weekly Digest (http://www.ssti.org/Digest/1999/090399.htm).

The bill calls for the Commonwealth to make a $53 million investment in several new economic development, research, and technology transfer programs and initiatives. Along with the state’s $4 million match for the National Science Foundation’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Research (EPSCoR), the bill includes the following funding proposals:

The plan also calls for the creation of the Kentucky Innovation Commission, a 15-member independent advisory council including the governor, executive cabinet officials, legislative representatives, and private sector members. The commission would provide information to the Governor and to the Legislature regarding the status of the business, research and development, and high technology training areas within the state. Staff support for the commission would be provided by the state budget office.

For more information or the complete version of the bill, visit: http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/record/00rs/HB572.htm

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Funding Opportunity: Commercial Operations and Support Savings Initiative (COSSI)
The FY2001 solicitation for proposals for the Commercial Operations and Support Savings Initiative (COSSI) was released February 7, 2000 in the Commerce Business Daily. The Administration has requested $52 million for the program, a joint initiative of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

This announcement seeks proposals from firms with a concept for inserting commercial technology into a fielded military system for the purpose of lowering the system's operation and support (O&S) costs. COSSI's mission is to develop and test a method for reducing Department of Defense (DoD) O&S costs by routinely inserting commercial items into fielded military systems. The insertion of commercial items is expected to reduce O&S costs by reducing the costs of parts and maintenance, reducing the need for specialized equipment, increasing reliability, and increasing the efficiency of subsystems.

COSSI is a two-stage program. The first stage is the cost-shared adaptation, development and testing of a prototype based on a commercial item. The second stage is the acquisition and installation of the prototype into a fielded military system. This solicitation does not require a fixed cost share from the proposer. The amount of cost share is at the proposer's discretion.

Proposals are due by 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, May 17, 2000. Complete program information is included in a document entitled, Program Description for the Commercial Operations & Support (O&S) Savings Initiative, Announcement No. 00-94058, dated February 7, 2000. The document may be downloaded from http://www.acq.osd.mil/es/dut/ or http://www.nslc.navsea.navy.mil/cossi/cossi.nsf

A COSSI Solicitation Bidder's Conference will be held in Arlington, Virginia on March 14, 2000 from 8:00 to noon. Further information, including a registration form contains is available at the COSSI web sites mentioned above.

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DOE Announces $7.4 million in NICE3 and I&I Awards
The Department of Energy has announced the selection of 32 grants under National Industrial Competitiveness Through Energy, Environment, and Economics Program (NICE3) and Inventions and Innovations Program (I&I). NICE3 grants support projects for commercial demonstration of innovative industrial technologies that reduce energy consumption, waste production, and operating costs. Eight NICE3 projects will share $3.8 million from DOE; industry will contribute $6.4 million in match. NICE3 awardees are located in California (2 awards), Colorado, Connecticut (2 awards), Delaware, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania.

The Inventions and Innovations Program assists inventors and entrepreneurs to bring their energy-saving ideas and technologies to the marketplace. The 24 I&I awardees for 1999 will receive up to $200,000 each for their energy-related inventions. The I&I grants, totaling $3,584,625, were made to companies, universities, and individuals in the following states: Arizona (2 awards), California (2 awards), Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts (3 awards), Michigan, New Jersey (2 awards), New Mexico, New York (3 awards), Ohio, Oregon (2 awards), Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia.

Optional pre-proposals for NICE3 and I&I are being accepted until March 17. The formal 2000 competitive solicitations for each program will open in early May; full proposals are due in late July. For a list of recipients for both programs and links to program details, visit: http://www.oit.doe.gov/nice3/grants/winners/winners00.shtml

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Measure to Double IT Research Passes House
On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act (NITRD), nearly doubling federal information technology (IT) research over the next five years. Introduced by House Science Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., (R-WI), H.R. 2086 focuses federal IT resources towards fundamental basic research and establishes the National Science Foundation (NSF) as the lead agency for federal civilian IT programs. Other agencies included in the bill are: NASA, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

NITRD groups civilian IT programs at the various agencies into one legislative authorization package. H.R. 2086 also provides steady funding increases over multiple years, as opposed to authorization levels that fluctuate each year. NITRD’s authorizes a total of $6.9 billion over fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

H.R. 2086 now moves to the Senate, where the legislation would be referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, chaired by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

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