In the September 16, 2009 Issue:

• No Money, No Mars: U.S. Manned Space-Flight Program Found Unsustainable
• With Connecticut’s Budget Passed, Last Nail in 2009 State TBED Merger Proposals
• At Year 5: Ohio’s Third Frontier Investments Yielding 10:1 Leverage, 41,000 jobs
• APRA-E Seeks Recommendations for Transformational Energy Projects
• Early Registration Ends Sept. 29 for SSTI’s Annual Conference: Seize the Moment!
• Argentina, Iran Push TBED Strategies
• Army Joins the Federal Hunt for Innovative 'Apps'
• TBED People and Organizations

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No Money, No Mars: U.S. Manned Space-Flight Program Found Unsustainable
The U.S. will not be able to achieve its goals for human space flight unless substantial changes are made to NASA’s plans for the next decade, according to a report from the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee. The report’s conclusions and recommendations, if they are adopted by the Obama Administration, would have significant impacts on those state and local TBED initiatives focused on NASA installations, space science, and the aerospace industry.

The committee finds the FY2010 budget for NASA does not provide sufficient support to maintain a viable space exploration program. If the space shuttle program ends next year, as scheduled, the U.S. will lack the ability to launch astronauts into space for at least seven years. This seven-year gap would include the entire scheduled five-year operational period of the International Space Station (ISS). The report concludes that the U.S. should adjust its timing for the decommission of the shuttle program and ISS, draw on global and private resources for continuing human space flight and re-examine its goals in space.

The report was commissioned by NASA at the request of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in January to review the status and outlook of the human space flight program. In January 2004, President George W. Bush unveiled a long-term plan for the U.S. to return to the moon by 2020 and establish a permanent lunar base that would serve as a stepping-stone for a future Mars mission.

Since that time, the extended suspension of flights following the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the reduced pace of flights in the ensuing years has slowed NASA’s progress toward achieving those goals. It now appears that NASA will not be able to complete its current manifest of shuttle flights before the end of the shuttle program. The end of the shuttle program next year also means that the U.S. will have no means to access the ISS when it becomes fully operational in 2011.

Delays and budgetary constraints also have slowed the progress of the U.S. Constellation Program, which was intended to become the focus of human space flight operations after shuttle flights had ended. The Constellation-affiliated Ares I and Orion vehicles were scheduled to begin support of the ISS in 2012. It now appears that these vehicles will not be ready before 2015, and additional delays are likely. Since the ISS is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2016, the Constellation Program will not be able to support the station. Progress has also stalled on Constellation’s lunar and heavy-lift vehicles, so the U.S. is unlikely to make timely progress on its goal of creating a lunar base.

What can be done to salvage the prospects of U.S. space flight program? The report provides five different scenarios, with a few sub-options, for the next decade. The first scenario uses the program of record, but with funds to support shuttle flights in 2011 and to decommission the ISS in 2016. The second option calls for extending the life of the ISS through 2020 and beginning a lunar exploration program under the Constellation program. Even this option, however, does not allow the U.S. to return to the moon before the late 2020’s. Though even this option requires additional funding, the commission dismisses it as incompatible with the U.S. stated goal of returning to the moon in the next 20 years. Both of these options are dismissed as being incompatible with a meaningful U.S. space exploration program.

The remaining options all require that the U.S. increase its budget for human space flight to $3 billion above the FY2010 guidance by FY2014 and then increase that funding at 2.4 percent a year to keep pace with inflation. With this additional funding, the U.S. would have more flexibility to re-examine its plans for the ISS, moon exploration and an eventual Mars mission. The report breaks down these goals into several options that each preserve the country’s goal of returning to lunar and space exploration outside of a low-Earth orbit.

Whether or not new funding becomes available, the commission recommends that NASA re-position itself to better serve its mission in a changing environment. First, international cooperation must become a priority. Without the ability to transport astronauts to the ISS on its own, the U.S. would have to rely on foreign space programs for assistance. Other significant benefits could also come from international partnerships, including cooperative development of space technologies. Second, the U.S. should leverage the emerging commercial space industry. By partnering with private companies, NASA could spur innovation in the private sector and create opportunities to lower the cost of space flight and logistics. Finally, the commission recommends that NASA reclaim its position as an innovator in its own right. By focusing on developing cutting-edge space technologies, NASA could help foster a robust commercial space industry, and open up new options for the future of space exploration.

The full report from the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee is still being prepared. Read a summary of the report at: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/hsf/related_documents/summary_report.html.

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With Connecticut’s Budget Passed, Last Nail in 2009 State TBED Merger Proposals
This year as states were wrestling with significant deficits, several proposals to consolidate TBED initiatives with other units of government emerged. The most recently decided was in Connecticut, where the General Assembly did not move forward with a plan to merge the state’s two primary financing agencies, Connecticut Innovations and the Connecticut Development Authority to form a new Connecticut Economic Innovations Authority. Gov. Jodi Rell had proposed the consolidation.

Governors in New York, Kansas, and Hawaii also outlined similar restructuring plans for the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology, and Innovation, the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation, and Hawaii’s High Technology Development Corporation, respectively. As in Connecticut, none of the proposals were approved by the states’ legislatures. In New York and Kansas, the stand-alone lead TBED organizations were proposed to be consolidated into the states’ conventional economic development departments. In Hawaii, HTDC was to become part of the University of Hawaii system.

TBED Sees Cuts in Connecticut
Following several months of debate over how to fill a projected $8.5 billion deficit, Connecticut legislators passed the 2009-11 biennial budget, which became law without the governor’s signature. Opposing several tax increases, the governor refused to put her stamp of approval on the enacted budget, which raises the state income tax for individuals earning $500,000 a year and couples earning $1 million a year. Additionally, the budget levies a 10 percent income tax surcharge for three years on the largest companies and raises the cigarette tax by $1 per carton, reports Bloomberg.com.

Most technology-based economic development programs will receive slight reductions in funding over the next two years. Biennial appropriations within the Department of Economic and Community Development include:

• $1.6 million for CONNSTEP ($400,000 less than last biennium), which provides consulting and training solutions for Connecticut’s manufacturing industry;
• $1.3 million for the Small Business Incubator program ($700,000 less than last biennium);
• $800,000 for the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) Manufacturing Supply Chain, which provides services to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers remain competitive;
• $475,000 for Hydrogen/Fuel Cell Economy ($25,000 less than last biennium);
• $270,750 for Entrepreneurial Centers ($14,250 less than last biennium); and,
• $200,000 for CCAT Energy Application Research ($250,000 less than last biennium).

Within the Office of Workforce Competitiveness, $400,000 is included for a nanotechnology study, down from $600,000 approved last biennium, and $300,000 was approved for SBIR matching grants, down $200,000.

Legislators did not pass the governor’s proposal to create a new Middle College System. HB 6370 would have merged the vo-tech high school and community college systems within the state’s Office of Workforce Competitiveness and allow high school students to earn up to 49 college credits by the time they enter college.

The enacted 2009-11 biennial budget is available at: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/ACT/Pa/pdf/2009PA-00003-R00HB-06802SS1-PA.pdf.

The Future of State TBED Programs
As this story points out, state TBED portfolios are being tested by the depths of the current recession. Connecticut wasn’t alone in being forced to reduce its innovation investments this year. Everyone is feeling the pinch. So where do state programs go from here? Several highly interactive plenary sessions and provocative breakout sessions at SSTI’s upcoming annual conference will explore this very question. Join the brightest minds and leaders of state and regional TBED for the answers on Oct. 21-23. More information is available at: http://www.ssticonference.org.

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At Year 5: Ohio’s Third Frontier Investments Yielding 10:1 Leverage, 41,000 jobs
Halfway through its money and its first decade, Ohio’s Third Frontier Initiative has helped generate a $6.6 billion impact for the state, according to an independent assessment released by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) on Tuesday. The report also credits the initiative’s investments for creating 41,300 jobs within Ohio over the past five years.

Making an Impact: Assessing the Benefits of Ohio’s Investment in Technology-Based Economic Development Programsprovides a supporting backdrop as Gov. Ted Strickland and the state legislature consider whether or not to place a possible extension of the Third Frontier Initiative on the May 2010 ballot. A large component of the Third Frontier’s funding comes from a $500 million bond package Ohio voters passed four years ago.

The 10:1 leverage estimate is based on the $681 million the state spent from 2003 to 2008 for a variety of programs targeting multiple stages in the research, development and commercialization pipeline. The state funds were matched directly by $4.2 billion in investments from industry, federal, foundation, and local sources. An additional $2.4 billion of indirect and induced impacts were estimated based on an econometric model, resulting in the cumulative $6.6 billion impact estimate to date.

The authors believe the current portfolio of tech-based economic development initiatives has been effective and the continuation of the state’s Third Frontier Program is warranted, but some shift in priorities should occur. The report recommends greater emphasis on entrepreneurial support programs as well as efforts to attract companies related to Ohio’s established technology clusters.

Large research centers largely focused within the state universities and private research institutions received the majority of the first investments. Of the total funds awarded through Ohio’s Third Frontier Initiative from 2003 to 2008, 76 percent were for improving university-industry-nonprofit research collaboration, while 13 percent supported tech entrepreneurs, 10 percent assisted product development, and less than 1 percent was used for attracting companies and student placement efforts.

Other impact metrics as identified in the report include:

• High-tech employment increased by 19,200 jobs from 2004 to 2008, representing a 4 percent increase. Non-high-tech employment decreased by 7,250 jobs over this same period, declining .2 percent;
• In 2008, high-tech employment in Ohio was brought in-line with the national average, pegged at 9.5 percent of total employment;
• In FY08, the 13 state-supported technology incubators housed 270 startup companies with $262 million in sales and grants and $121 million in equity investments; and,
• Licensing income to Ohio’s universities more than doubled from $16.1 million in 2002 to $39.6 million in 2007.

While the report presents the impact of Ohio’s TBED efforts in aggregate, it also provides analyses for the individual programs that comprise the state’s portfolio of initiatives. Recommendations are made to reorganize and streamline the number of programs as they pertain to the commercialization pathway, making navigation of the state’s complex commitment to innovation easier for stakeholders and technology companies.

Making an Impact: Assessing the Benefits of Ohio’s Investment in Technology-Based Economic Development Programsis available at: http://development.ohio.gov/ohiothirdfrontier/MakingAnImpactReport.htm.

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APRA-E Seeks Recommendations for Transformational Energy Projects
The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), housed at the U.S. Department of Energy, has released a Request for Information (RFI) to assist the development of its future funding opportunities and initiatives. Public and stakeholder ideas are needed in two categories:

• Identifying the novel and cutting-edge scientific discoveries, as well as their potential applications, to push advancement in transformative energy applications; and,
• Suggesting certain technologies that can overcome barriers, or “choke points”, in the path of developing solutions to energy problems.

The RFI is looking for concepts that currently are not supported in topic or scale by other applied-energy technology initiatives associated with the Department of Energy. Future ARPA-E funding initiatives will not target exploratory basic research or large-scale demonstrations, but will concentrate on developing scientific breakthroughs on new energy technologies.

ARPA-E is intended to target the high-risk and high-payoff applied science and technology innovations related to improving energy efficiency, especially those minimizing emissions, reducing U.S. dependence on energy imports from other countries, and maintaining U.S. leadership in the development of advanced energy technologies. Modeled after DARPA, Congress created ARPA-E through the America COMPETES Act in 2007. It was initially funded in 2009 with a $400 million allocation from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (see the Feb 19, 2009 issue of the Digest).

Comments in response to RFI must be provided as an attachment on an email to arpa-e-rfi@hq.goe.gov by 5 p.m. EST on September 25, 2009.

Additional submission guidelines for this request are available at: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/public/rfi.pdf.

Understanding and Capitalizing on the Renewed Federal Interest in Energy Tech
There are few opportunities to help set the $400 million research agenda of a federal agency like ARPA-E is offering. The Obama Administration has made energy technology and addressing climate change a priority for its budget requests. SSTI is dedicating an entire day prior to our annual conference for exploring what the billions of new investments being made by the Department of Energy and other federal agencies mean for greening state, local and university TBED strategies. We’ll also look at examples of what green TBED strategies are already yielding results, and the resources available to help your client companies green their businesses or commercialize new energy-related technologies. Join us Wednesday, Oct. 21 for an intensive workshop the Energy Imperative: Maximizing Green TBED Opportunities. More information is available at: http://ssticonference.org/preconference.html.

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Early Registration Ends Sept. 29 for SSTI’s Annual Conference: Seize the Moment!
Once again, SSTI’s annual conference continues to be the most affordable professional development event of the year for the state, local, and university-based TBED community. Early registration discounts, which knock off $100 from the lowest prices already in the field, will expire Sept 29. Make the smart investment for your TBED program and your career by registering today. More information, including a registration form, is available at: http://www.ssticonference.org.

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Argentina, Iran Push TBED Strategies
Earlier this month, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved $750 million in financing over the next five years to Argentina’s federal government for the country’s Technology Innovation Program.

Argentina’s R&D intensity as gauged by the ratio of R&D expenditures to GDP has increased in recent years, from 0.4 in 2003 to 0.51 in 2007. However, compared to a R&D intensity of 2.3 percent of GDP for OCED countries, Argentina lags considerably behind.

The Technological Innovation Program, an initiative of Argentina’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation is designed to change that, primarily through three main components:

• Creating four new Sector Funds for Technological Innovation in the areas of “sustainable energy, health care, agroindustry, and social sectors”;
• Sustaining existing initiatives to support science and technology at private companies, such as the Argentine Technological Fund and the Investigation of Science and Technology Fund); and,
• Addressing research and development infrastructure needs.

A press release on Argentina’s credit offer by the IDB, a development institution for Latin America and the Caribbean formed in 1959 by the Organization of American States, is available at: http://www.iadb.org/news/detail.cfm?language=English&id=5591

More information on Argentina’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, created in November 2007, is available (in Spanish) at: http://www.mincyt.gov.ar/

Iran
With its GDP nearly tripling this decade, Iran is directing some of its new wealth to advance its TBED intentions. The Republic recently announced a 20-year comprehensive plan concentrating on the development of science and technology at its universities, and building industry-university research partnerships. The plan includes ambitious goals of increasing the number of Iran’s scientists to 3,000 per million of the population (1,279 in 2007), improving R&D intensity to 4 percent of GDP (.67 percent in 2006), and increasing education investments to comprise 7 percent of GDP (4.7 percent in 2005). Note: all historical statistics are taken from: http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_IRN.html.

Identified research and education foci include nanotechnology, information technology, biotech, aerospace, energy, environment, health, water management, and transportation. The first step of implementing the plan, as reported in University World News, was the opening of a nanotechnology research center in July. Affiliated with the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad, the center is dedicated to researching the packaging of nanotechnology-based products, pest control methods, and the interchange of nanomaterials and agricultural products.

More information covering the plan in University World News is available at: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20090827175231370.

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Army Joins the Federal Hunt for Innovative 'Apps'
The United States Army has unveiled a new competition to foster the development of software and services that will be of use to the military. Apps for the Army would help speed the development process for Defense IT projects by providing an incentive for the military community to participate in creating innovative applications. Officials say that the program will help tap into the work already being done by military personnel to design software that is tailored to the demands of the battlefield. The pilot program is expected to launch by the end of the month and, if successful, would eventually be replicated within other Department of Defense (DoD) agencies.

The resulting applications will reside on DoD’s Forge.mil collaborative development platform. Forge.mil was launched earlier this year to help developers work on open-source software projects for DoD by using shared tools and a development environment hosted by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). The site allows Defense agencies, as well as Defense personnel and contracts, to minimize duplication of effort by providing access to software components that already have been created and by offering a common set of development tools. Forge.mil’s first component, SoftwareForge, includes tools for version control, bug tracking, wikis, discussion forums and document storage. The DoD effort is similar to SourceForge, the leading open-source software development and distribution site for civilian projects, but with additional security measures.

Apps for the Army resembles two other recent civilian efforts to encourage IT innovation while improving government services. The District of Columbia launched Apps for Democracy last year to leverage the skills of individuals and businesses to create software and web applications that could make use of the data collected by the city. In its first round, the contest yielded 47 web, iPhone and Facebook applications and cost the city only $50,000. A follow-up “Community Edition” of the contest offered cash awards to build a new platform for submitting 311 service requests to the city. Entries may go on to become commercial products.

On Tuesday, the General Services Administration launched its own effort, Apps.gov, to make a variety of applications, cloud computing services and social networking software available to federal agencies. The announcement was made by U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, who previously helped create Apps for Democracy as D.C.’s Chief Technology Officer.  Apps.gov consolidates federal agency purchases of cloud and social media applications into a single storefront, making it easier for agencies to find reputable services and for developers to market their products to government consumers. One of the key missions of Apps.gov is to promote the use of cloud computing services within the federal government in order to increase productivity, collaboration and efficiency. Several sites, including ReadWriteWeb.com, have reported that the site represents an attractive new market for cloud services and could spur innovation in that area.

Both Apps for the Army and Apps.gov represent a change in how the federal government interacts with the IT community. By consolidating the marketplace for IT services, these initiatives could limit duplication of effort and reduce expenses while promoting the development of innovative new applications. Consolidation also provides a single point of entry for IT companies to pursue government customers, possibly making it easier for smaller companies to enter the market.

Read more about Apps for the Army at: http://armylive.dodlive.mil/index.php/2009/09/apps-for-the-army-competition/.

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TBED People and Organizations
President Obama has named Ron Bloom as the administration’s senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Since, February, Bloom has been a senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and he sits on the president’s automotive industry task force.

Detroit Renaissance and the Michigan Business Leadership Council are uniting to form a new organization called Business Leaders for Michigan. The new organization supports the Michigan Turnaround Plan.

The U.S. Senate confirmed John Fernandez as assistant secretary of commerce for economic development. A former Mayor of Bloomington, IN, Fernadez will oversee the Economic Development Administration.

President Obama announced his intent to nominate physicist Patrick Gallagher to be the 14^th director of the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Stands and Technology (NIST). Gallagher is currently the NIST deputy director.

Lisa Martinez resigned as Missouri’s economic development director. Deputy director Katie Steele Danner has been named the department’s interim director.

Ohio Gov. Ted Stickland has named Lisa Patt-McDaniel director of the Department of Development. Patt-McDaniel has served as the departments interim director since Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher stepped down in February.

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