SSTI Digest

The recently released Economic Development Strategic Plan for the Commonwealth of Virginia includes measurable benchmarks to gauge the building blocks for economic development. As required by legislation, each of Virginia's governors must establish an Economic Development Strategic Plan within his first year in office. The 2006 version is the result of collaboration between the cabinet of Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, business leaders, economic development professionals, and private citizens.   The report details nine broad goals, which include such topics as: encouraging workforce development, emphasizing regional cooperation, supporting research and development, and strengthening tourism.   To accomplish many of these goals, several strategies are listed. Some of these strategies include benchmarks that may be of interest to the tech-based economic development community. By the year 2010, Virginia intends to:

With an eye toward easing traffic congestion, air pollution, and distributing employment opportunities more widely around Virginia, Gov. Timothy Kaine has created an Office of Telework Promotion and Broadband Assistance. The Office will encourage and promote telework activities for public and private employers, and work to advance innovative models that expedite the deployment of "last-mile" broadband technologies throughout the Commonwealth. "Telework is a family-friendly, business-friendly public policy that helps us recruit and retain a high-quality workforce in a competitive job market," Governor Kaine said. "It also protects environmental quality and promotes energy conservation by reducing traffic congestion and vehicle emissions. Telework also allows a better balance between work and family."

Synthetic biology, quality of life technologies, fluid power, mid-infrared technologies, and structured organic composites are the five technology areas supported through the new Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) awards announced by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The centers will share $75.3 million to develop cross-disciplinary research programs advancing technologies that address major societal problems and provide the basis for new industries. For more than two decades, the ERC program has fostered interdisciplinary research and education collaborations, in close partnership with industry, based on the realities of technological innovation and the development of new products and services. States often incorporate ERCs and state-sponsored university-industry research centers into their tech-based economic development strategies. In each center, scientists and engineers from a variety of disciplines collaborate on broad-based high-risk engineering research, developing fundamental engineering knowledge and test beds for important emerging technologies.

Based on the two versions of the FY 2007 budget working their ways respectively through the House and Senate, the National Science Foundation (NSF) appears to be positioned to receive its first significant increase in funding in many years. Both chambers' versions of the NSF appropriations provide increases above the FY06 appropriations in excess of 7 percent, with the full House approving an increase of 7.9 percent in June. The version approved last Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee provides a 7.4 percent increase to the nation's leading agency for science. Much of the increase is consistent with the President's request to support his American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). NSF's appropriations are included in H.R. 5672, the Commerce-Justice-Science bill. More information is available at: http://thomas.loc.gov

Phil Bond will become president and CEO of the Information Technology Association of America in August. Bond formerly was undersecretary for technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Jeff Nesbit was appointed director of the National Science Foundation's Office of Legislative and Public Affairs.

Yolanda Hunter is the new manager of the New River Valley Competitiveness Center in Radford, Va. Wayne Carpenter, former manager of the incubator, left to pursue private consulting work.

The Virginia Piedmont Technology Council (VPTC) selected Jerry MacLean as its new executive director. MacLean replaces Gail Milligan, who will remain with VPTC through June to assist with the transition.

The Northern Virginia Technology Council Foundation has changed its name to the Equal Footing Foundation to better communicate its mission to the community.

For the third consecutive year, industrial support of U.S. academic research dropped, according to an April 2006 InfoBrief by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The 2.6 percent decrease in fiscal year 2004 from the previous year is the sharpest yet in the three-year trend, following a 1.1 percent reduction in FY 2003 and 1.6 percent in FY 2002. Author Ronda Britt notes "the industrial sector is the first source of academic R&D funding to show a multiyear decline" since the survey inception in 1953. At only 4.9 percent of the total academic R&D in FY 04, the industrial share now parallels its FY 83 levels.

While the recession and dot-com crash may explain some of the drop, NSF does not offer any conclusions regarding potential causes for the drop. Others have offered globalization as a potential explanation. They see industry R&D migrating toward the markedly improved capabilities within the international academic community.

Past SSTI conference sponsor ANGLE Technology Group named Mark DeSantis to serve as managing director of consulting and management and Lisa Smith to become vice president of marketing.

Using statistics from the National Science Foundation’s report Science & Engineering Indicators 2006, SSTI has prepared a table presenting 2003 state rankings for industrial R&D intensity - the ratio of industry R&D to gross state product (GSP).

The national average in industrial R&D intensity for 2003 was 1.81 percent. Among the fourteen states that placed above the national average, Michigan held the highest rank at 4.24 percent followed by Washington (3.76 percent), Massachusetts (3.73 percent), Connecticut (3.35 percent) and California (3.28 percent).

Conversely, Alaska ranked the lowest in the nation at 0.11 percent, with South Dakota (0.27 percent), Montana (0.25 percent), Louisiana (0.20 percent), and Wyoming (0.17 percent) rounding off the final five.