In the August 29, 2007 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2007. 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.

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California, Illinois Budgets Have Mixed Results for Research, TBED

California
California lawmakers reached a budget agreement last week, preserving partial funding for an initiative aimed at supporting high-tech research and innovation. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled the $95 million Research and Innovation Initiative in January to provide funding to several university-based projects focused on clean energy, biotechnology and nanotechnology research and commercialization (see the Jan. 8, 2007 issue of the Digest).
 
The fiscal year 2007-08 state budget includes $70 million in lease revenue bond funding for the Energy Biosciences Institute and the Helios Project at the University of California (UC). UC Berkeley will receive $40 million for the Energy Biosciences Institute to focus on the development of alternative fuel, and $30 million is allocated for the Helios Project, an initiative by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to create sustainable, carbon neutral sources of energy. Lawmakers also approved $6 million for UC labor research programs.
 
Not included in the budget is $15 million in operating funds for the California Institutes for Science and Innovation. UC officials hope to re-engage policymakers on the subject in the future, according to a press release from the UC Office of the President.
 
The FY 2007-08 Enacted Budget is available at: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/
 
Illinois
Following a volatile legislative session in Illinois between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and lawmakers, a budget agreement was reached, but it does not include funding for several of the governor’s priorities, including a $100 million state-run venture capital fund. Gov. Blagojevich signed the FY08 budget last week, vetoing approximately $500 million.
 
Gov. Blagojevich proposed the creation of the Illinois Community Assets Fund during his combined State-of-the-State and Budget Address in March to increase access to capital and financing to economically distressed communities and populations (see the March 12, 2007 issue of the Digest).
 
Lawmakers also left out the governor’s recommendation of $20 million in grants to the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute for stem cell research.
 
The FY08 budget includes funding for existing programs within the Department of Community and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), including $5.5 million for the Community Technology Center Grant Program, $5 million for the Entrepreneurship Center Program, and $2 million for the Manufacturing Extension Program.
 
Among the governor's line item vetoes were $1 million for the Innovation Challenge Grant program, $1 million for the Entrepreneur in Residence Program, and $750,000 for a grant to the University of Illinois for Illinois VENTURES.
 
The FY08 budget is available at: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=095-0348

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Arkansas Wins $9M NSF Grant for Biomass Power & Nanotechnology Research
Last week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority (ASTA) would receive $9 million through the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) to enhance the state's research capabilities. The new funds will be used to support a broad range of activities, from attracting world-class scholars to fostering entrepreneurship, in select technology areas.
 
The program, dubbed the Arkansas Advancing and Supporting Science, Engineering and Technology (ASSET) Initiative, will provide additional research funding to three of the state's university campuses: the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. These schools will receive financial support to establish two new research centers and to promote interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research in promising fields.
 
The first center will investigate the nexus of agricultural, energy, environmental and health sciences in the use of plant materials for energy generation. The Plant Powered Production (P3) Center will be a statewide virtual facility that will bring together researchers from each of these disciplines and will facilitate cooperative research between the state's institutions of higher education.
 
A second center, the Wireless Nano- Bio- Info-Tech Sensor System and Center, will provide a collaborative infrastructure for nanosensor research at the University of Arkansas. Researchers at the center will contribute to the development of wireless arrays of low-cost, specialized nanosensors that can be used in power generation, food preservation, and biodevices.
 
ASTA's ASSET Initiative also will invest in a range of programs beyond university R&D to support high-tech growth in these emerging fields. The state's strategy includes a Human Resource Development and Community Outreach plan that will support entrepreneurs through training and education to commercialize the technologies developed at these new centers. In addition, ASSET will sponsor seminar series, discipline-specific regional and national meetings, and electronic access to scientific journals for researchers. The initiative also plans to develop K-12 and undergraduate educational programs and new opportunities for underrepresented groups in scientific research.
 
Read more about the Arkansas ASSET Initiative at: http://www.asta.arkansas.gov/newsroom/index.php?do:newsDetail=1&news_id=58

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New York Announces Rural Cluster Development Initiative
Implementing successful technology-based development initiatives in rural areas is an ongoing challenge for many parts of the country. Earlier this month, New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer signed legislation establishing a new program to stimulate employment and income growth by promoting cluster-based strategies in rural regions of the state. Sponsored by Sen. George H. Winner Jr., chairman of New York’s Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, Senate Bill 3234 outlines the Cluster Based Industry and Agribusiness Development Grant Program, which will provide seed grants of up to $25,000 on a competitive basis to community-based economic development corporations.
 
The initiative will be administered by New York’s Rural Revitalization Program while the funds will be dispersed by the Empire State Development (ESD) Corporation, the state’s lead economic development agency as part of its comprehensive rural revitalization program. Clusters are expected to be organized around the existing strengths in certain regions, as well as the emerging technologies and research under development at the universities and colleges dotting the landscape of rural New York.
 
New York’s Legislative Commission on Rural Resources produces Rural Features, a collection of articles reviewing legislation and news from New York, the U.S. and around the world, which may be of interest to many rural communities. The most recent edition, dated July/August 2007, can be found at:
http://www.senate.state.ny.us/SenateReports.nsf/Public_ViewReports?OpenForm
 
The text of S.B. 3234 can be accessed at: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S03234
 
Learn More About Rural TBED Initiatives…
New Strategies for Rural TBED will be one of the 19 breakout sessions at SSTI’s 11th Annual Conference in Baltimore, Oct. 18-19. During this session, we’ll investigate several tech-based initiatives producing employment growth within rural communities across the country, including the concept of “farmshoring.”
 
The discussion will include presentations by:
• Monica Babine, Rural Bridges Co-director, Washington State University Extension
• Keith Boswell, Team Leader, Security & Services Team, Virginia Economic Development Partnership
• Heike Mayer, Assistant Professor in Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Tech – Alexandria Center
 
More information is available at: http://www.ssticonference.org/

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Universities Explore New Approaches for Tech Transfer
University technology transfer efforts have been the subject of considerable discussion of late, moving all the way to hearings on Capitol Hill. Whether or not broad changes may be afoot as debate continues on the merits of the Bayh-Dohl Act, but several universities are already tweaking, modifying or stepping up their efforts to establish new businesses in emerging fields through innovative approaches.
 
The incentive for university direct involvement in tech transfer can be significant as administrators seek new sources of revenue because the payoff to universities and local economic impact can, on occasion, be quite lucrative. Last year, the University of Massachusetts (UMass) generated its best take yet from commercialization of its intellectual property, a record $41.4 million across five campuses, according to UMass officials.
 
In 2005, university technology managers across the U.S. reported more than $42 billion in R&D expenditures at U.S. academic centers, 628 new spinoff companies created, 4,932 new licenses signed, and an increase in patent applications filed over the previous year, according to the Association of University Technology Managers’ FY 2005 Licensing Survey (see the March 5, 2007 issue of the Digest).
 
Universities often rely on outside expertise to handle technology transfer services such as intellectual property protection and market analysis. The downside for some universities is less control of the licensing revenue and the costly fees associated with the services. Last month, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) won approval from the UW System Board of Regents to manage its own intellectual property, effectively separating from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF).
 
UWM officials said the decision will allow the university to shape its own destination in research and technology transfer. The Regents also approved a resolution to allow UWM to withdraw from the WiSys Technology Foundation Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of WARF established to promote scientific investigation and research at all UW System universities, except the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
 
UWM Research Foundation President Brian Thompson said the decision will allow greater flexibility to tailoring licensing programs to specifically meet UWM’s needs and potentially lead to increased revenue to UWM. Previously, 40 percent of the revenue generated from licenses was allocated to WiSys. Additionally, the move will allow for a greater economic impact on the region. Preference for licensing will be given to companies in the region where high technology and advanced manufacturing jobs will be created or retained in the state, and the UWM Research foundation will actively encourage start-up companies based on university research.
 
By eliminating some of the traditional barriers of technology transfer, the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) hopes to grow new or existing businesses in the state through a program that offers Nebraska-based businesses free access to intellectual property. Under the program, AdvanceNebraska, companies that want to develop UNMC’s intellectual property submit a business plan, and if it is proven to be commercially viable and the company has the resources to implement it, the licensing fee and patent cost is waived for 3-5 years.
 
Companies in return must be located in the state and employ workers. UNeMed, the marketing and licensing arm for UNMC, negotiates a share of the future profits, which varies depending on how critical the license was to the final product or how much money the company put into development.
 
A new program announced earlier this month by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) provides funding on a competitive-basis to university-based teams with the goal of increasing the number of university start-ups. The program, TechStart, recently made its first round of awards, providing six teams with $15,000 each for market research. Teams must consist of an inventor that assists in evaluating the feasibility of the start-up, an experienced entrepreneur to provide business guidance and a technology transfer manger. 
 
In Massachusetts, Boston University’s (BU) School of Management and its Office of Technology Development created the Entrepreneurial Research Lab (ERL) to spur the formation of companies and commercialize research from BU labs. This “living laboratory” focuses on entrepreneurs – either current students or recent BU grads – connecting them to professors, mentors, businesses, investors and policymakers. The ERL provides incubator space and mentoring in exchange for active participation in educational activities of the school, including designing new educational activities, acting a live case study and providing guest lectures.
 
Universities that are traditionally strong in research may lack the ability to spin off companies from that research. A new program at the University of Texas San Antonio (USTA) business school is hoping to fill that gap for the school. Last fall, the Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship was created as a pipeline for USTA faculty, students and the surrounding business community to develop new technology ventures. Student teams submit their projects to the UT System Technology Transfer Office in support of a patent. The center’s director, Corey Hallam, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, hopes the program produces at least two start-up companies each year.
 
Learn more about university tech transfer…
The debate over the future shape and form of university tech transfer will be the focus of an engaging breakout session at SSTI’s 11th Annual Conference, Oct. 18-19, 2007 in Baltimore. The discussion, which will frame the issue around local and regional TBED priorities, will be led by Dr. Donald F. Smith, Vice President for Economic Development for Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.
 
For more information visit: http://www.ssticonference.org/

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Which Universities Are Leading the Charge to Educate Successful Entrepreneurs?
While colleges and universities are a natural breeding ground for new businesses, some universities excel at producing entrepreneurs and designing entrepreneurial programs that meet the needs of their community. Fortune Small Business Magazine recently released a list of 56 institutions that have embraced their role as educators of the next generation of successful entrepreneurs. These schools each provide a suite of programs and opportunities that have fostered active and consistent entrepreneurial activity among their students and within their region.
 
The list was compiled after interviews with entrepreneurs, faculty, students, administrators, alumni and venture capitalists. No rankings are given, but individual institutions are recognized for their achievement in training undergraduates, MBAs, executives and social entrepreneurs and in providing online opportunities.
 
Fortune notes that nearly 3,000 schools offer classes in entrepreneurship, 10 times more than in the mid-1980s. As the number of entrepreneurship programs has grown, institutions have begun offering more diverse and specialized opportunities to their students. Six schools are singled out for their work with family businesses and an increasing number offer entrepreneurship opportunities in specific technology areas, such as the University of Colorado at Boulder's clean technology and renewable energy entrepreneurship programs.
 
Among the recognized universities is the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which since 1988 has supported its students' business-ownership goals through the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship. The center operates within the Lally School of Management and Technology to develop initiatives linking the Institute and the business community and joint programs with the Rensselaer Technology Park and its Incubator Program. Students have access to the RPIdea Lab, which provides access to experienced mentors, workshops and office technology.
 
Another honoree is the University of Maryland and its Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, which provides a host of opportunities for student and regional entrepreneurs. These include a wide range of undergraduate and graduate coursework, seed-stage funding of up to $30,000 for student businesses, and a capital access network for regional entrepreneurs. The university also offers the nation's only student residence devoted to launching new businesses. The Hinman CEOs program provides students in the residence with on-site mentoring, meeting rooms, workspaces, and regular gathering and workshops that promote technology entrepreneurship.
 
Learn More About Entrepreneurship Education…
Find out more about entrepreneurship education programs across the country at the 2007 SSTI Annual Conference in Baltimore. In our session Keys to Effective Tech Entrepreneurship Education, Phil Weilerstein of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance and Horace Robertson of the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education will examine national best practices and trends in the field. Dean Chang of MTECH Ventures and Hinman CEOs will discuss the successes and lessons learned by the University of Maryland's pioneering entrepreneurship programs. Ellen Hemmerly of UMBC Research and Technology Park will speak about UMBC's ACTiVATE program to foster new technologies and businesses led by women. This session should be mandatory viewing for university administrators and faculty and for economic development leaders interested in promoting new high-tech businesses.
 
View the full list of colleges and universities for entrepreneurs at: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/bestcolleges/2007/index.html
 
Learn more about the SSTI Annual Conference at: http://www.ssticonference.org/

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Recent Research
Study Predicts Computers Will Displace 60 Percent of Current Workforce by 2030
Think back to the early 1980s. The structure of the U.S. workforce was very different than it is today. There were no such jobs as website designers; the mobile phone and personal computer industries were relatively tiny in size; and airline tickets were overwhelmingly purchased with the assistance of living, breathing travel agents. Simply put, advances in technology and computing ability created new employment opportunities and eliminated the need for a variety of jobs.
 
So how will the advances in technology change the composition of the workforce 25 years into the future? A pilot study performed by Stuart Elliot of the National Research Council’s Center for Education attempts to answer this question and predicts 60 percent of today’s workforce will be displaced by 2030, as advances in the abilities of computers meet or exceed the abilities of humans. In Projecting the Impact of Computers on Work in 2030, Elliot organized data on 93 of the 96 groups of occupations used in the Department of Labor’s Standard Occupational Classification system (information was not available for military-specific occupations). For each of these occupational groups, values were then provided on a seven-point scale for four types of skills: language, reasoning, vision and movement.
 
Using information about current artificial intelligence research and postulating on the exponential increase of computational processing power in the future, Elliot paints a picture of the functionality of computers in language, reasoning, vision and movement skills by 2030. As computers are able to complete certain tasks faster and more cheaply than humans, those tasks may shift from human performance to computer performance. For example, the study predicts that 90 percent of current office and administrative support occupations will be displaced by technology in this period. But not all occupations are expected to fair the same. Legal occupations, including lawyers, are only predicted to see 6 percent of their jobs displaced.
 
While additional research is needed to further investigate the scope or the predictions presented in this study, one thing is for certain: Any substantial shift in the supply and demand of the skills needed for the future workforce will require a shift in the education and training of the public. While 2030 may seem a long time away, the children that are born today and graduate from college will be entering the workforce for the first time around that date.
 
The report finishes with some interesting speculations. As the abilities of computers improve, some human workers may not compete with computers even if they chose to work for free. In the coming decades, entire components of the population without the necessary skills “will become essentially unemployable.” Even further into the future, many decades from now, processing power and automated skills may surpass human workers completely, Elliot speculates. If most of the global community is unable to compete in the workforce, this may require our society to create mechanisms that help people to find satisfaction - and income - outside the structure of paid employment.
 
Projecting the Impact of Computers on Work in 2030 is available at:
http://www7.nationalacademies.org/cfe/Stuart_Elliott_Paper.pdf

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Become a Member Today! Receive $100 Discount on Conference Registrations & FREE "Must Read" Publication
You can bring the whole team to SSTI's 11th Annual conference in Baltimore, Oct. 18-19. Members receive a $100 discount on up to seven conference registrations. Multiple attendees from the same organization allow broader coverage of more of the 19 concurrent breakout sessions, greater networking opportunities with more of the field's top thinkers and practitioners, and super savings on registrations. We encourage you to check out the brochure or the conference website soon to see what we have in store for this year's exceptional conference: http://www.ssticonference.org

Join today and while supplies last, we will send you a copy of A Resource Guide for Technology-based Economic Development. The resource guide provides a starting point for transferring the collective wisdom of top TBED professionals from the past two decades to current practitioners. Each of the three main sections can serve separately or together as required reading before your next staff meeting, retreat or brainstorming session to help refine your approaches to transforming regional economies.

Additional member benefits include:

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SSTI Job Corner
Complete descriptions of the position openings described below are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

The Juneau Economic Development Council (JEDC), a public/private partnership that serves to foster a healthy and sustainable economic climate in the City and Borough of Juneau and in Southeast Alaska, has openings for two positions. JEDC seeks both an experienced program manager and a technology manager for SpringBoard, its Department of Defense (DoD)-sponsored technology transfer program. The program manager builds relationships with DoD labs nationwide and cultivates partnerships with industry, government and academia. The technology manager works with a portfolio of clients and projects to deliver program metrics, including various contracts, agreements and projects that help transfer technology or commercialize DoD technology.

The Medical College of Georgia is seeking a director for its Life Sciences Innovation Center. This position generally serves as the primary contact for emerging life science businesses throughout Georgia by providing assistance with financing, planning and operations. The selected candidate will be responsible for managing the daily operations of the center and incubator in Augusta, among other responsibilities. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in business or a related field of study is required. For a full description of this opportunity and others, visit the SSTI Job Corner at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

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People & TBED Organizations

Edward Bowman Jr. was selected as chairman of Connecticut Innovations. Bowman replaces Elaine Pullen, who resigned to focus on her consulting business.

Linda Burger was named technology manager of the Howard County Economic Development Authority.

The creation of the Canadian Association of University Research Parks was announced earlier this month. AURP Canada will represent 25 Canadian science, technology and research parks and will be a chapter of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP). Eileen Walker has been appointed AURP's new executive director.

Tom Clarkson was named the new director of Wake Forest University's Babcock Demon Incubator, replacing Paul Briggs.

Dr. Donald Colbert is the new executive director of the Augusta BioBusiness Center and Georgia Medical Authority. Colbert replaces Lenie Roos-Gabridge, who retired in July.

ConnectKentucky, a public-private partnership leading efforts to accelerate broadband availability and technology literacy throughout the Commonwealth, has formed a national umbrella organization called Connected Nation. In addition, René True has joined ConnectKentucky as director of operations, and Brent Legg has been added as director of state and local initiatives for Connected Nation. True previously served as executive director of the Office of Research and Information Technology in the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.

Robert Coughlin will replace Thomas Finneran as the new head of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council by October. Coughlin is Gov. Deval Patrick's undersecretary for business development.

Enterprise North Florida Corp. is closing after 11 years of operation.

Gov. Patrick has appointed Sharon Gillett to head the newly created Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable. Gillett previously served as a principal research associate and chair of the Broadband Working Group for the industry-sponsored Communications Futures Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a member of the Boston Wireless Task Force.

The Georgia Biomedical Partnership has become Georgia Bio, The Life Sciences Partnership.

The Houston Technology Center has launched its new Emerging Technology Council.

Dr. Daryush Ila, head of the Alabama A&M University Research Institute, was elected to serve as the executive director of the Alabama EPSCoR Steering Committee.

Jerome Mahone is the new director of Venture Creations, a business incubator at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Richard Murphy was named interim president of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Arlene Chiu announced she will resign as interim chief scientific officer of CIRM, effective Oct. 31.

Andre Pettigrew was named the new head of economic development for the City of Denver. Pettigrew replaces John Huggins, who left earlier this year.

Seth Porter was selected as deputy director for Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter's Energy Office.

William Stephan has been appointed vice president of engagement for Indiana University, a new position aimed at furthing economic development and related outcomes.

Dr. J. Timothy Stout has been named to the newly created position of vice president for commercialization strategies at Oregon Heath and Science University.

The Tech Council of Maryland/MdBio has appointed Dr. Richard Zakour to lead MdBio and the MdBio Foundation as executive director.

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