SSTI Digest

To celebrate the one year anniversary of the TechHire Initiative, the Obama administration announced an expansion of the program with the addition of 15 new communities. The administration also announced activities and commitments to help support career and technical education. 

Several recent studies have identified the roadblocks that females face in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. These two roadblocks include gender bias in the classroom and too few mentors in K-16 STEM fields. In an attempt to increase opportunities for females in STEM education, both federal and foundation funders have announced programs that will increase scholarship and internship opportunities for young women in STEM fields.

The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI), first unveiled in May 2013, is a statewide public-private partnership advanced by BioCrossroads that considers itself the first industry-led collaborative life sciences research institute in the country. Late last month, the institute announced two new grants totaling $100 million that would support scientific innovation addressing metabolic disease and poor nutrition. 

Of the $100 million in grants announced by IBRI, $80 million would come from the Lilly Endowment, with $45 million granted unconditionally and the remaining $35 million subject to dollar-for-dollar matching, encouraging contributions from the broader life sciences community. The Eli Lilly and Company Foundation contributed $20 million, which qualifies for the endowment’s match. An additional $15 million remains to be matched.

Angel investors are an essential component of the global economy, supporting ideas and innovators at their very earliest stages. In 2014, more than 200,000 American angels invested about $24 billion in 73,000 startups, according to the Angel Capital Association (ACA). Little data, however, exists on who these investors are and how they make their decisions. ACA, Wharton Entrepreneurship and the John Huston Fund for Angel Professionalism at Rev1 Ventures are launching a nationwide survey of angel investors to learn more. Angels who take the survey will be eligible to be in a drawing to receive complimentary tickets for angel education events, including the 2016 ACA Summit, May 9-11, 2016, in Philadelphia. The survey is available at: http://www.theamericanangel.org/

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) recently released the first round of 33 awardees from the Small Business Vouchers Pilot program.  A total of $6.7 million will be awarded in the form of vouchers for assistance from DOE national laboratories of up to $300,000 a piece. Small cleantech businesses may be able to apply in nine technical categories. A second round of awards also has been announced, with a third to follow later in the year. Second round applications are due April 10, 2016. Details are available at: https://www.sbv.org/.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced the creation of a pay-for-performance workforce training program that will help Virginia workers acquire the industry certifications and occupational licenses that meet the needs of key businesses in each region of the state. The New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Fund and Program is part of a $20 million commitment to support workforce efforts across the state over the next two years including $12.5 million for credential incentives, $6 million for equipment needed by career and technical training programs, and $1.5 million for a veterans’ portal to strengthen outreach to this key population.

A computer science education is viewed as a valuable prerequisite for many technology jobs, and, as a result, policymakers are responding to make these programs more ubiquitous. In January, the Obama administration announced his $4 billion Computer Science For All proposal, a nationwide effort to help all students from kindergarten through high school learn computer science. A cross-section of businesses, education leaders, and NGOs launched the Computer Science Education Coalition earlier this week, a nonprofit organization focused on encouraging Congress to invest $250 million or K-12 computer science education investments. These federal funds would complement state efforts – such as those detailed here – and spark further state initiatives to expand computer science education, according to the coalition.

This week, the White House announced the ConnectAll Initiative, an effort to reform federal communications programs to focus on bringing more Americans online. The focus of this effort will be on lower-income families who often lack access to affordable service and the devices to make use of them. Under the proposed plan, low-income families could be eligible for a monthly broadband subsidy. Getting more people online is vital to the future of the American economy and to shared prosperity, according to the report released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in tandem with the White House announcement. Seeing the potential economic benefits, a number of states, including New York and Alabama, have recently made their own investments in Internet accessibility.

Over the last month, several universities have announced new initiatives that look to spur investments in university-related startups to support economic growth and prosperity within their region or state. These include efforts in Triangle Venture Alliance in North Carolina, Purdue Ventures in Indiana, and a partnership between Oregon State University and a local investment fund.

North Carolina

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it would commit up to $12.5 million in pilot grants to test novel ways of broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). NSF INCLUDES will make up to 40 two-year, pilot awards to support STEM efforts that improve the preparation, increase the participation, and ensure the contributions of individuals from groups that traditionally have been underserved and/or underrepresented in the STEM including women, blacks, Hispanics, and people with disabilities. In the FY17 budget proposal, NSF has requested $16 million for larger, five-year alliance awards according to Sciencemag.org.

When factoring in the broader manufactured goods value chain – including activities such as research and development, corporate management, logistics operations, and advertising and branding – manufacturing’s footprint on the American economy is much larger than what is measured in most analyses, according to a new report from the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI). In their report, The Manufacturing Value Chain Is Much Bigger Than You Think! researchers from MAPI find that, although traditional analyses typically place manufacturing’s proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) at around 11 percent and its share of economy-wide full-time equivalent employment at 9 percent, the extended manufactured goods value chain accounts for approximately one-third of GDP and employment in the United States.

New National Science Foundation data indicates that the federal government’s support for national laboratories and research centers has continued to decline in constant dollars after peaking with the 2011 infusion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding.  Six federally funded research and development centers (FFRDC’s) comprise about one-half of all FFRDC spending: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and five Department of Energy national labs. Of these centers, JPL and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory experienced the greatest gains, with budgets increasing by about 9 percent between FY 2013-2014. FY 2014 was the final year for ARRA-based spending, leaving FFRDC support in and uncertain place in the post-Recovery Act period. Read the report…