SSTI Digest

Note: This brief quasi-book review/book synopsis is the first item in an experimental new section of SSTI’s newsletter, potentially joining other regular sections such as Useful Stats, Fed/Leg News, State News, Member Updates, and Recent Research. Its periodic continuation after the contributions we present over the summer will depend on feedback from our members and Digest readers. Comments may be shared with skinner @ ssti.org Balancing innovation and equity is a perennial challenge in economic development. Neil Lee’s newest book, Innovation for the Masses: How to Share the Benefits of the High-Tech Economy, tackles this issue head-on, arguing that innovation and equity are not mutually exclusive but can—and should—be pursued in tandem. For our readers, this may seem an obvious point, but innovation’s track record suggests otherwise. Lee’s thorough examination provides valuable insights into how to achieve this equilibrium. Lee lays a strong foundation by dedicating the first third of the book to overviewing the current discourse on innovation. While this section might (for better or worse) give you flashbacks to past economics classes, it sets the…

The positive impacts of addressing any single priority for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission could be of only marginal benefit without simultaneous efforts along other key priorities, warns the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). DOT Report to Congress: Decarbonizing U.S. Transportation lays out three strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that DOT argues must be enacted in unison if the U.S. is to make significant progress in meeting its GHG emission goals. By way of example of why a holistic or coordinated approach is required, the reports notes that increases in vehicle driving and the movement of goods have canceled out the GHG emissions benefits of improved fuel economy in the US. The report's data indicate that the transportation sector generates the largest portion (33%) of emissions in the U.S. DOT outlines three strategies deemed critical for reducing the sector’s share of the problem: increasing convenience, improving efficiency, and transitioning to clean options. Increasing convenience involves designing systems to minimize the necessity of moving people and goods from one place to another. The authors suggest supporting active…

On Aug. 1, Massachusetts lawmakers ended their 19-month formal session. In the flurry of legislation that was passed, the Legislature failed to agree on the governor’s proposed $3.5 billion economic development package (the Mass Leads Act), which featured $2.8 billion in bond authorizations combined with tax credits and considered a top priority for both the administration and legislative leaders.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced a new $25 million Good Jobs Challenge Notice of Funding Opportunity for investment in high-quality, locally led workforce training programs that lead to good jobs. EDA anticipates making 5-8 awards ranging from $1 to $8 million, which are expected to be announced in winter 2024. Projects that align with and advance a Tech Hub designee’s strategy are eligible to earn up to five award points, according to the NOFO (pg. 45). Applicants must implement training for jobs that advance key technology focus areas as established by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which include advanced energy, biotechnology, robotics, and semiconductors, according to the Commerce Department’s press release. Each applicant is eligible to earn up to 105 points. Criteria include project impact and feasibility (20 points), the strength of the sectoral partnership (15 points), the readiness of the sectoral partnership (15 points), regional needs and alignment (15 points), equity (15 points), the strength of employer partnerships (10 points), and regional investment and sustainability (10 points). On alignment with Tech Hubs designees,…

The U.S. Department of Commerce and Natcast, the operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), recently announced the site selection process for the first three CHIPS for America Research and Development (R&D) facilities for the NSTC and National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP). The goal of these facilities, as outlined here, is to allow U.S. innovators to collaborate and solve the most challenging problems in microelectronics. Due to the different timelines and technical requirements, there will be a separate site selection process for each facility, while still including an integrated assessment of all the factors considered in each selection process. The first facility is the NSTC Administrative and Design Facility, which will serve as the location for key operations of the NSTC, including hosting Natcast administrative functions, meeting space, and programmatic activities. ​This facility is expected to be in a region with a thriving semiconductor design ecosystem, an existing semiconductor workforce, and proximity to universities with advanced microelectronics research. The selection process for this facility will be run by…

Significant differences between the House and Senate versions of the FY 25 budget numbers for science and the quadrennial election cycle might explain the increased language one hears concerning national security, competitiveness and global economic conditions. Data presented in a July issue brief by the National Science Board (NSB), however, should help raise the issue to encourage honest discussion about how the federal government will take on the challenges to U.S. leadership in innovation. Additionally, a new paper from the Aspen Strategy Group et al. provides supporting arguments to the NSB facts and policy recommendations to help address educational aspects of what many in the innovation space consider a growing or looming crisis for the country. In A Changed Science and Engineering Landscape, NSB documents the People's Republic of China (PRC) rise in prominence in science and engineering due to that nation's ample and sustained commitment to funding R&D, which is now "bearing fruit." They note that the PRC has surpassed the U.S. in the number of international patents, with a meteoric rise from only 10,000 international patents in 2009 to nearly 70,000 by 2023…

The U.S. Department of Defense released requests for information regarding a new loan program for critical technologies that will be launched through the Office of Strategic Capital. The office, launched in 2022, has focused on a Small Business Investment Company-Critical Technologies (SBICCT) license that can provide technical and cybersecurity expertise and resources to funds willing to concentrate their portfolios on certain tech.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has made multiple announcements about the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) in recent weeks, including new program approvals, providing an update on uses of funds through the first two years of the program, and highlighting venture capital success stories, and releasing a database of participating lenders. In addition to covering these updates below, SSTI is collecting Treasury’s resources in revised SSBCI tracking pages.   SSTI updates to SSBCI tracking SSTI has been tracking SSBCI program data and information in “Useful Stats” articles; earlier this month, SSTI updated “Useful Stats: SSBCI 2.0: An overview of state uses of funds” with new Capital Program data, including program-specific data for South Carolina and Guam. In the future, SSTI will provide all SSBCI updates on a new resource page dedicated to the SSBCI program. This SSBCI resource page will be continuously updated as new information becomes available. In addition to the Capital Program data, Technical Assistance Program data has been added to the SSBCI resource page in the form of a detailed map of allocations by state and…

A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a new artificial intelligence-focused Manufacturing USA institute is now available on Grants.gov. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which posted the NOFO on July 22, anticipates funding of up to $70 million over five years, subject to the availability of federal funds, according to their press release. Concept papers are due Sept. 30. Applicants with the best concepts will be invited to submit full proposals. The notice on Grants.gov lists additional deadlines and other important dates. The new Manufacturing USA institute, according to the press release, will be expected to develop cost-effective, AI-based advanced manufacturing capabilities in collaboration with industry, academia and government. It is also expected to integrate expertise in AI, manufacturing and supply chain networks to promote manufacturing resilience. This competition is open to accredited institutions of higher education, U.S.-based nonprofit and for-profit organizations with majority domestic ownership or control, and state, local, U.S. territorial, and Indian tribal governments. NIST…

The five-year-old NSF Convergence Accelerator, which has funded nationwide research projects to address major societal challenges, is adding 10 “anchors” to focus on regional challenges. The regional anchor organizations will engage in the same solution development for underserved, underrepresented organizations and communities as the current national program. However, as part of the regional expansion, NSF aims to reach more local communities to help solve challenges that are especially meaningful to a particular region. The emphasis on creating a regional program evolved from NSF's recognition that there are regions underserved by NSF, noted Douglas Maughan, NSF Convergence Accelerator section head. "Part of the reason for the expansion," Maughan said, "is this idea of scale to make the program larger, but at the same time expanding our reach and impact. So, the idea is not only to run the program from NSF but also to create these regional anchors so they can address societal and economic challenges in their region using the same program model." The national program will continue to coexist along with the regional program. However, national topics…

NSF has released data on nearly 300 letters of intent (LOIs) submitted to the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program by lead organization applicants. The data is meant to enable applicant teams to connect and potentially collaborate before the preliminary proposal deadline on Aug. 6, 2024, according to a press release from NSF. The data can be found on the NSF Engines' Letter of Intent Explorer, which offers an interactive map showing the location of lead organizations and the industry sectors from which the LOIs came, a search engine for finding lead organizations by state, a data table showing LOI titles, lead organizations names, types, and contact information, and region of service. The explorer indicates that There are more than 600 unique partner organizations. Organizations in EPSCoR jurisdictions lead 28% of the LOI lead organizations. Non-academic organizations lead 43% of the LOI lead organizations. Minority-serving institutions lead thirty-five LOI lead organizations.

The Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) and National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Regional Innovation Engines (Engines) programs require regions to advance a critical technology area that already has traction in their region. However, identifying such critical technologies might be challenging as applicants face deadlines, such as the August 6, 2024, NSF Engines preliminary proposal deadline and the subsequent February 11, 2025, full proposal deadline. Fortunately, SSTI recently updated a data tool comprised of two interactive visuals and a downloadable data file that can assist in identifying the critical technologies in an applicant’s geographic location. The tool leverages PitchBook data exhibiting investment activity across 18 PitchBook industry verticals aligned with many of the 10 key technology focus areas (KTFAs) established with the passage of the 2022 Chips and Science Act. SSTI initially launched the tool in August 2023 and has since updated the underlying data through June 30, 2024. To create an example of how the tool could be used, SSTI utilized the tool’s functions to find data on…