In the December 8, 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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States Graded on Higher Education
A new comprehensive study of the state of higher education in the United States says that as a whole, the nation has made large improvements in the percentage of high school students taking upper-level math and science courses.

However, taken individually, many states have a long way to go in order to adequately prepare students for college education, according to Measuring Up 2000, the first-of-its-kind report card by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, released November 30.

The report rated each state in five categories: preparation, participation, affordability, completion, and benefits. The authors used the familiar A-B-C grading scale and compared state-by-state.

According to a press release from the Center, as Measuring Up 2000 was being completed, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported that for the first time three countries—Norway, Britain, and the Netherlands—have surpassed the United States in the proportion of young people who graduate from college.

“As the world leader in higher education in the 20th century, the United States will have to work hard to maintain leadership in the 21st century,” said North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt Jr., chair of the National Center’s Board of Directors. “Accessible, affordable and quality higher education is critical to preparing Americans for the high-skilled jobs of the new economy.”

Some important findings in the report include:

The Center relied on data, mostly from 1998, available from state and federal agencies and by nationally-recognized private organizations. The Center plans to issue report cards every two years.

The full report can be viewed at http://www.highereducation.org

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Nanotechnology Takes Center Stage
Solicitations totaling more than $101 million have been released by the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation (see the National Nanotechnology Initiative webpage at http://www.nano.gov for more details on each opportunity). The amount of funding available is one more indication of the importance that nanotechnology is expected to play in the future. The policy and programmatic implications for science, technology, and economic development programs will be significant as more applications are perfected and commercialized.

Also known as molecular manufacturing, nanotechnology has been theory since 1959 when Nobel-winning physicist Richard Feynman identified the possibility of maneuvering things atom-by-atom. It has now gone well beyond theory and into practice, with the announcement last summer by Lucent Technologies that it had delivered the first optical switch which will enhance speed and reliability of Internet and data transmission as never imagined.

The term nanotechnology comes from nanometer which is one-billionth of a meter long. That’s roughly the width of about four atoms across and 1,000 times narrower than a human hair. The idea is that structures can be built from the atom-up, creating materials with amazing purity and strength.

The potential applications for nanotechnology are staggering. In announcing the National Nanotechnology Initiative last summer, NSF used the following vivid examples of the potential of this technology:

With the federal government taking the lead, states and the academic community are beginning to devise ways to take advantage of molecular manufacturing and promote its development. A few examples:

Beyond the research implications, application of nanotechnology will have significant ramifications for practically every industry sector. The economic and policy implications for many states and communities will be staggering. Creating products from the “bottom-up” requires less materials and creates less pollution, and very few workers. Nanotechnology also demands completely new manufacturing processes. Working on the atomic level, labor on most production lines will be replaced almost entirely by robots, computers, petri dishes, and clean rooms.

For more information on nanotechnology, visit: http://www.nano.gov or http://www.nanoindustries.com/ or http://www.foresight.org/NanoRev/  or http://nanozine.com/

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Washington DC Passes Tech Incentives
New legislation to help revitalize technology development in Washington, D.C. received unanimous approval from the Council of the District of Columbia and is expected to be signed by Mayor Anthony Williams.

The "New E-Conomy Transformation Act of 2000," contains eleven incentives designed to help transform the D.C. economy. Councilmember David A. Catania and the New E-conomy Advisory Group comprised of seven business leaders, developed the incentives targeted at companies engaged in e-commerce, Internet-based businesses, information technology, and other sectors of the New Economy. The Advisory Group identified barriers to locating in the District such as workforce development and affordable facilities, then crafted incentives designed to help businesses overcome them. The incentives include several tax credits, cuts, exemptions, and abatements, and lease guarantees for qualified companies.

Before the bill is enacted, perhaps by Spring of 2001, it must be approved by the D.C. Financial Control Board and Congress.

Background on the legislation may be found on SSTI's website at http://www.ssti.org/Digest/2000/072800.htm or at the DC New E-Conomy 
website http://www.dcneweconomy.com/

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CyberCities Report Released
All but one of the metro areas evaluated saw their high-tech industry employment grow during the last five years according to a 135-page report, Cybercities: A City By City Overview of the High-Technology Industry.

The report, assessing the U.S. high-tech industry in 60 metropolitan areas nationwide, was released Dec. 5 by AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) and The Nasdaq Stock Market. As with previous AeA reports, the definition of high technology is narrowly defined as high-tech electronics manufacturing, communications services, and software and computer-related services.

The high-tech industry added 1.1 million new jobs nationally since 1993, or eight percent of the 13.8 million jobs created by the U.S. private sector in the same time span, the report said.

The cities with the largest high-tech employment growth rates during the last
five years were Colorado Springs (77 %) San Francisco (65 %), Houston (64 %), Denver (63 %) and Sacramento (57%). The nation’s top cybercities in terms of high-tech employment are San Jose (252,900), Boston (234,800), Chicago (180,400), Washington, D.C. (177,700) and Dallas (176,600).

Seattle had the nation’s top technology salaries in 1998, averaging $129,300, or 50 percent more than the average high-tech wage paid in second-place San Jose ($85,100). Seattle’s high-tech average wage was about 200 percent more than the average private sector wage in Seattle. Other leading high-tech wage cities are Middlesex, N.J. ($78,800), San Francisco ($78,400), and Austin ($76,300).

Other highlights in the study include:

More information on the CyberCities report can be found on AeA’s website at www.aeanet.org

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Funding Opportunities

Department of the Treasury
The Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI) has issued a notice inviting applications for the Small and Emerging CDFI Assistance Component. Up to $10 million is available for both financial and technical assistance. Applicants for financial assistance must obtain matching funds from sources other than the Federal government. The CDFI Program funds and supports a national network of financial institutions that is specifically dedicated to financing loans and investments in community development projects, including business start-up and expansion in targeted communities. The maximum technical assistance award, which does not require matching funds, is $50,000, and the largest financial assistance award is $150,000, for the maximum total award of $200,000. Application deadline is March 27, 2001. Detailed information on the program may be obtained at http://www.treas.gov/cdfi

Department of Energy
The National Energy Technology Laboratory is seeking applications for financial assistance for its Development of Technologies and Capabilities for Developing Coal, Oil and Gas Energy Resources program. The solicitation seeks cost-sharing applications for energy research and development related activities that promote the efficient and sound production and use of fossil fuels, defined as coal, natural gas and oil in 17 separate areas of interest. Approximately $18 to 20 million of DOE funds is planned for the solicitation, with a 20 percent cost share required for each project. There will be a two-step application process and multiple closing dates. The pre-application deadline is Dec. 20, 2000. The formal solicitation number is DE-PS26-01NT41048 is available on the DOE’s website at http://www.netl.doe.gov/business

National Science Foundation
Under the leadership of the National Science Foundation, a multi-agency program in metabolic engineering has been announced, offering $4.5 million for up to seven awards. No cost sharing is required. The agencies involved are the Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, EPA, NASA, National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Proposals are invited that address metabolic engineering in three particular areas of interest: instrumentation, sensors, and new analytical tools and experimental methods, especially those technologies that allow the examination of individual cells; quantitative and conceptual models integrated with experimental studies that better characterize the regulation and integration of complex, interacting metabolic pathways; and, the use of bioinformatics to deduce the structure, function and regulation of major metabolic pathways. Academic and non-profit institutions, industrial organizations and government laboratories are eligible to submit proposals. The deadline is March 2, 2001. Detailed information is available on the NSF’s website: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf0119

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