SSTI Digest

The Small Business Administration released its annual solicitation for the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program, a competitive grants program for eligible organizations to conduct outreach and provide technical assistance services to technology-based small business owners. The program places particular emphasis on organizations that propose helping socially and economically disadvantaged firms compete in the SBA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Each state, through its governor office, may submit one proposal in FY15 for an eligible organization (e.g., state and local economic development agencies; Small Business Development Centers; and, colleges and universities). Applications are due April 10.  Visit the FAST Partnership Program website…

The National Institute of Standards and Technology-Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST-MEP) announced the award of 10 new five-year cooperative agreements to manage Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers. In an open competition, the existing MEP centers in Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, were selected to receive a total of $26 million in funding – an increase of about $10 million (nearly 60 percent). In addition to the additional federal funding:

• The state/local cash increased significantly in eight states;
• The cash contribution remained constant at nearly $2 million in one state; and,
• In one state, state/local in-kind support replaced in-kind support from other sources.

The funding is intended to help the centers to reach new customers and offer new services. Read the announcement…

The American public and scientists have dramatically different views on a range of science, engineering, and technology issues, according to a new report from the New Pew Research Center. The largest gap exists between the two groups on safety of genetically modified (GM) foods. While 57 percent of the public believe GM foods are generally unsafe, 88 percent of scientists connected with American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) believe that GM foods are generally safe. Other questions asked that show a significant fracture between the public and scientific community include: the role of human activity in climate change; human evolution; use of animals in research; nuclear energy; and, offshore drilling.

There are 50 areas of need for paradigm-shaping breakthrough technologies that would help stimulate sustainable global development, according to a new report from the Institute for Globally Transformative Technologies at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab – The 50 Breakthroughs Study. The authors contend that decisionmakers, funding organizations, impact investors, and inventors should focus on developing transformative, breakthrough technologies in these areas instead of supporting incremental technologies. The authors argue that incremental changes while having compelling narratives, significant funding, and considerable media hype fail to reach any reasonable scale or impact. In comparison, they highlight several gamechanging technologies that have significantly impacted both the developed and developing world.

The study was launched to bring together thought leaders and science and technology (S&T) topic-specific experts to identify where such paradigm-shaping breakthroughs are most required and also to provide a loose ranking in importance. The report identifies 10 technologies (in no particular order) of most importance that include:

California-based companies received about 56 percent of all U.S. venture capital dollars in 2014, the state's highest share of venture activity since the dot com boom of the early 2000s. Over the past 15 years, investment activity has steadily become more concentrated in California and a few other states. In 2009, about 67 percent of all deals and 74 percent of venture capital dollars flowed to the top five states. By 2014, those states' share of venture dollars grew to 80 percent, according to NVCA/Pricewaterhouse Coopers data. A recent Harvard Business Review article, however, suggests that startups are receiving first-round funding in more metropolitan areas than ever.

The NVCA/PwC data indicate that California's dominance over the U.S. venture capital industry appears to be holding steady, but its high percentage of national venture capital dollars is due to larger deals rather than larger number of funded companies.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to classify broadband as a public utility. Once rules have been put in place this summer, providers will no longer be able to selectively block access to legal content, throttle access based on content or services or offer paid prioritization of traffic. In addition, the FCC also voted to preempt state laws that impair the deployment of community broadband providers. Municipalities and other groups will be able to offer affordable broadband and wireless data options in underserved communities. Read the announcement...

The Signature Report, an annual report on college completion conducted by researchers at the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center and Indiana University’s Project on Academic Success, identifies six-year student success outcomes and college completion rates by state for the cohort that began post-secondary education in fall 2008. Unlike typical measures of graduation rates that fail to include completions that happen at institutions other than the starting institution, which heavily (and negatively) impact the non-persistence rate for students who started at four-year public institutions for each state, this report factors in these transfers. Furthermore, by segmenting in areas such as type of institution (public, private, two-year, four-year), enrollment intensity (full-time, part-time, mixed), age at first entry, and gender, the report is able to capture even more insights not collected by traditional studies of educational outcomes.

Although every state delivers tax incentives for economic development, there are numerous inconsistencies in how these incentives are evaluated. Based on best practices developed by 10 states and the District of Columbia that passed legislation requiring regular evaluation of economic development tax credits from 2012 to 2014, researchers at The Pew Charitable Trust developed a framework for states hoping to improve the accountability and performance of tax incentives in a new policy brief. Ultimately, the brief recommends three steps:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) was appropriated $7.2 billion in FY14 (not including mandatory accounts) of which over $6.8 billion (nearly 95 percent of NSF’s total appropriations) was used to support research and education awards. Over 1,800 institutions of higher education and other organizations received funding from NSF including 11,000 competitively reviewed awards according to a report released by the NSF.  Other highlights include:

The Financial Solutions Lab – a $30 million, five-year initiative managed by the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) with founding partner JPMorgan Chase & Co. – released its funding competition focused on tech-enabled financial solutions for managing household budgets. This is the Financial Solutions Lab’s first competition in a series of challenges to identify, test, and expand the availability of promising technologies and tools that help Americans increase savings, improve credit, and build assets. An anticipated eight awardees will receive up to $250,000 each in capital and technical assistance, including national partnership opportunities, industry expertise, mentorship, and cutting-edge consumer and design insights necessary to build the next generation of leading financial services organizations. The Financial Solutions Lab will accept applications until April 7, 2015.

The Blackstone Charitable Foundation announced last week that it has awarded a combined $3 million in grants to 20 non-profit organizations around the world dedicated to strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems and supporting high growth entrepreneurs. Now in the third year of its five-year, $50 million Entrepreneurship Initiative, this year’s funding was granted to 14 new organizations and six organizations from last year’s pool of winners. Grants from the foundation work toward helping organizations pilot, expand, or replicate programs that help catalyze growth of companies, industries, and communities. In total, more than 550 organizations submitted proposals to the foundation. Read more about the 20 grant recipients here.

Year One Recipients...

This week, governors in Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Texas revealed their budget proposals, with commonalities around STEM education, workforce development, and university research initiatives. Governors in two states, New Hampshire and Texas, made growth in the innovation economy a specific priority area of their proposed budgets.