SSTI Digest

Few economic sectors have experienced the combined economic, technological, social, biological, and – now with threats of mad cow and foot-and-mouth diseases – medical pressures that confront American agriculture. Adding the challenges of competing in the knowledge-based economy presents a formidable task for rural regions. New Valley Connexions, a public-private partnership in California that teams agriculture businesses with both state and local governments as well as the larger business, financial, and educational communities, may provide a worthy model for study and replication in other parts of the country. Core funding for the initiative was provided by the Division of Science, Technology and Innovation within the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency.

Complementing California’s support for New Valley Connexion, described above, is the state’s $2 million Rural E-Commerce program. Administered by the Division of Science, Technology and Innovation within the California Technology, Trade & Commerce Agency, Rural E-Commerce provides grants to non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and local governments for innovative, community-driven solutions to the telecommunications challenges faced by rural residents. Examples of projects eligible for Rural E-Commerce support include rural telecommunications planning, rural network infrastructure, innovative applications, education and training, and related community planning efforts. According to the request for proposals, Rural E-Commerce grants also can be used as matching funds for rural communities competing for federal and foundation grants in areas relevant to rural e-commerce, such as the Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) and the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program.

Does patenting encourage or speed the transfer of technology from universities? Does the prospect of receiving royalties and licensing fees increase motivation among university researchers to work with businesses to commercialize technology? A recent paper suggests the answers to both questions is "no," but that more empirical and statistical research is needed to determine whether or not increased emphasis on intellectual property rights is achieving the desired results. How Do University Inventions Get Into Practice?, prepared by a team of researchers from across the country, is the first report on a study that attempts to understand:

President Bush has nominated Los Angeles resident Hector Barretto to serve as Administrator of the Small Business Administration.

Even tech hot spots like San Diego are finding they are not immune from the Digital Divide. In fact, a new report from the San Diego Regional Technology Alliance (SDRTA) finds that the region suffers a wider Internet access divide between Caucasians and Hispanics than the nation as a whole. With Hispanics representing 25 percent of the area’s population, the issue will have future economic repercussions in tech-based entrepreneurship and increasing shortages of workers with tech skills.

Organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area will spend more than $20 million this year to bridge the digital divide, according to Who's Funding the Digital Connect?, a report released this month by the San Francisco Foundation. More than 54 organizations will provide computer access and/or training to more than 75,000 low income and underserved individuals in one of the most technology-savvy regions in the country, according to the study.

The study provides a base inventory of the digital divide programs and services provided in the area, the sources and stability of funding, and critical gaps in both service delivery and funding. The San Francisco Foundation will use the information as a component of Digital Connect, a larger strategy to eliminate barriers to technology for low income, under-represented, and underserved communities.

Key findings include:

The majority of an anonymous gift of $26.5 million to the University of Southern California (USC) will be used to increase the representation of women in the hard sciences and engineering faculty and encourage middle school girls to choose a science pathway in education. Money also will be used to create new faculty positions in the sciences, upgrade laboratories, increase scholarship aid for undergraduates, create new fellowships for graduates and fund child care.

The USC program favors a long-term approach to redressing the gender imbalance in the sciences and engineering faculty. USC will use most of the $20 million of the gift apportioned to the issue as an endowment, applying its investment income toward hiring women faculty and providing enduring support for faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students. A networking group composed of USC’s female scientists has advised the university on the establishment of the program, called WISE, for Women in Science and Engineering.

With the goal of developing a common technology agenda among the region’s leaders, the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance (larta) has compiled its first regional innovation index benchmarking the area’s strengths and weaknesses in S&T. The Southern California Technology Innovation Index compares the five-county Los Angeles consolidated metropolitan statistical area with the California Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose), Austin, Texas, and Massachusetts. The San Diego and Santa Barbara metro areas are not included in the definition of Southern California.

The Index presents aggregated and standardized data for 20 indicators across three categories — economic vitality, innovation, and resources. Several areas of strength and others in need of improvement are identified in the process. For example:

As mentioned in the last week's SSTI Weekly Digest, access to capital is a challenge for women-owned businesses. Springboard 2000, one nationwide initiative to overcome that obstacle, in less than one year, has assisted women entrepreneurs in science and technology businesses to raise more than $235 million in venture funding. The investments have been raised directly as a result of two forums held this year in Redwood City, California and Dulles, Virginia.

State science and technology initiatives have been given higher profile in California as the state's lead economic development department changes its name to the Technology, Trade, and Commerce Agency. The new Division of Science, Technology and Innovation, led by Deputy Secretary Joe Raguso, will oversee the state's tech-based economic development efforts. In addition to assuming the responsibilities of the Office of Strategic Technology, the new division will also be responsible for science and technology-based strategic planning, developing funding programs to address the state's digital divide issues, and managing the state's Small Business Development Center program. Two new advisory councils, the California Research and Development Council and the Small Business Competitiveness Council will be created to advise and assist the new division.

During the past two weeks, the Milken Institute has issued two similar reports documenting the difficulties and successes minority- and women-owned business have accessing capital.

The Minority Business Challenge: Democratizing Capital for Emerging Domestic Markets presents new findings and several specific recommendations to sustain minority businesses growth. The findings include:

In a move designed to significantly improve access to higher education, California Governor Gray Davis signed legislation this week that will significantly expand the state's scholarship programs. Under the new legislation nearly one-third of high school graduates will receive scholarship assistance through the state's Cal Grant program, according to the bill's sponsors. The expansion means that students that maintain a high grade point average and come from middle to low-income families will have their tuition covered by the state of California for all four years of college. Additionally, a new scholarship program was created directed at the state's highest achievers in math and science.