SSTI Digest

U.S. community colleges are in dire need of an overhaul, according to a report issued by the 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges. Currently, fewer than half (46 percent) of all student who enter community college with the goal of earning a degree or certificate achieve that goal. About 60 percent of students entering community college after high school must take developmental education classes to prepare for college-level work. Also, community college students are frequently unable to make smooth transitions into four-year institutions or the job market after graduation.

The commission calls for a redesign of the system that would focus efforts on local employment needs, emphasize transparency and accountability and offer coherent pathways for students. The commission was convened by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) last summer, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, ACT and the Education Testing Service.

Only 11 percent of business executives believe the U.S. educational system prepares workers for today’s economy according to a recent survey by ConvergeUS — Preparing America’s 21^st Century Workforce: the Business Sector Weighs in on Educational Gaps & Common Core State Standards. In the report, ConvergeUS surveyed almost 300 business executives on their attitudes regarding the current state of the U.S. workforce. The most significant trend was the overall lack of confidence by business executives in the U.S. education system, approximately 33 percent of business executive believe that the U.S. does a poor job of preparing workers.

Educational policy changes were most often cited by respondents (66 percent) as necessary to make the U.S. more competitive in the world economy. Other areas important in need of policy changes to increase competitiveness include investments in research and development (56 percent of respondents) and corporate tax reform (54 percent). According to respondents, three objectives standout as the most important to a high school education:

Talented human capital is singled out as the most critical resource differentiating the prosperity of countries and companies in the manufacturing sector, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum. Even as unemployment remains high across the globe, an average 10 million jobs cannot be filled because of a growing skills gap. Experts say the problem is likely to worsen as more skilled workers retire. The report highlights key trends that will define manufacturing competition over the next 20 years.

A 2011 survey by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute found that 67 percent of U.S.-based manufacturers are facing a moderate to severe shortage of available, qualified workers and more than half expect the shortage to grow in the next five years. In fact, about 5 percent or around 600,000 manufacturing jobs remain unfilled in the U.S. Exacerbating the problem is an ageing workforce, especially in emerging countries. In China, 28 percent of the population will pass age 65 by 2040. The retirement trend is worldwide and is expected to sustain for the next 10 years, according to the report.

Innovation quickly is becoming the key phrase for the world’s economies. Increasingly nations are turning their economic development efforts towards building 21^st century economies that are cleaner, more efficient and built on collaboration, both domestically and internationally. The European Union, New Zealand, South Korea and the United Kingdom have announced new initiatives that target increasing their overall competiveness not simply in the short-term, but long-term. 

United Kingdom

United Kingdom (UK) launched a contest to support up to two pilot wave energy projects in hopes to scale up the clean technologies in the country. Companies and organizations across the country will be able to bid for a share of the £20 million (approximately $32.2 million) prize to establish one of the two pre-commercial projects. Currently, Marine power has the potential to provide up to 20% of current electricity demand in the UK, as well as support thousands of jobs. Read the press release…

A new fund established to capitalize on Maryland's leadership in R&D seeks to move 40 new discoveries and innovations out of the lab and into the marketplace each year through a partnership between the state and five universities. The Innovate Maryland initiative is seeded with $5 million in the FY13 budget with additional funds from the participating universities to provide grants to researchers. The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) will administer the fund. The goal of the fund is to promote commercialization of university research, encourage universities to partner with federal labs, and facilitate tech transfer from universities to commercial industries. Participating universities are Johns Hopkins University, Morgan State University, University of Maryland Baltimore, University of Maryland Baltimore County, and University of Maryland College Park. Each university will contribute between $100,000 and $200,000 on an annual basis. The initiative was unveiled in January as part of Gov. Martin O'Malley's 2012 legislative agenda (see the Jan. 25, 2012 issue of the Digest).

Despite the attention given to emerging metropolises in the developing world, large U.S. cities will continue to power the global economy over the next 15 years, according to a new report. McKinsey and Company examined the economic performance of the 259 "large" U.S. cities, cities with populations of 150,000 or more. In 2010, these cities generated almost 85 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), making large cities more important to the U.S. economy than in Asia, Latin America or Western Europe. A separate recent effort to breakdown the qualities of successful entrepreneurial cities ranked eight U.S. metro areas among the top 25 global startup ecosystems. Two U.S. cities, New York and Los Angeles, rank in the elite tier of cities with more than 10 million inhabitants. Accordingly, these cities contribute greatly to U.S. GDP. However, the U.S. mega cities do not seem to be decisive in the importance of cities in the U.S. economy. Instead, the remaining 257 large cities are the focus of the McKinsey report, which observes that these cities dominate the U.S. economy because they represent an inordinately high percentage of the U.S.

The 2012 supplemental budget approved by Washington lawmakers includes funding for initiatives aimed at establishing a skilled workforce, enhancing competitiveness of existing industries and supporting university research to grow a strong aerospace cluster. The funding is part of a $9.8 million plan proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire last year to enhance the state's education system in anticipation of new jobs in the aerospace sector (see the issue of the Nov. 16, 2011 issue of the Digest). To pursue joint industry-university research that can be used in aerospace firms, lawmakers passed a bill (SB 5982) creating the Center for Aerospace Technology and Innovation. The center will be operated as a multi-institutional education and research center under the authority of the University of Washington (UW) and Washington State University. A board appointed by the governor is charged with recruiting researchers, assisting researchers and firms in guarding intellectual property and developing non-state support for research. The center also will work with aerospace firms to identify research needs and opportunities for technology transfer.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) released a report on federal research and development (R&D) spending — Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 2008–10. It percents data collected from NSF surveys sent to all 27 federal agencies that were conducting R&D programs in early 2008. Total R&D spending is reported as both outlays and obligations for those three fiscal years (FY). In this report, the basis for reporting is determined by fiscal year:

• FY 2008 data are completed transactions;
• FY 2009 data are estimates of congressional appropriation actions and apportionment and reprogramming decisions; and,
• FY 2010 data are estimates of administration budget proposals not yet acted on.

NSF intends for subsequent volumes in the series to include updated numbers, once authorization, appropriation, deferral and apportionment actions have been occurred. To allow for trend comparisons, the report also provides historical data from 1988 to 2009.

Intellectual property-intensive industries contribute approximately $5 Trillion to U.S. Economy and at least 40 million jobs, according to a new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) report — Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus. The report highlights 75 industries that use several forms of intellectual property (IP) protections (i.e., patents, copyrights and trademarks) most extensively. Using several economic impact indicators, the authors found that these industries were key drivers of the U.S. economy in 2010 including:

This week, both the U.S. House and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science and related agencies (CJS) approved FY13 funding legislation supporting several key TBED agencies. Press releases from the Senate CJS subcommittee and the House appropriations committee suggest that funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program will likely remain close to the level indicated in the president's FY13 budget at $128 million or a bit higher. FY13 funding for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) is less certain, with the current Senate bill allocating $238 million and the House bill funding it at only $220 million.

Lawmakers last month approved a $19.3 billion state budget for FY13, which includes funding for many of the recommendations from a task force convened by Gov. Nathan Deal to enhance the state's innovation economy. Specifically, the budget boosts funding for the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) to recruit researchers and allocates $5 million for cancer-related research. The legislature also passed a measure expanding the Georgia Jobs tax credits and R&D tax credit.

“Disinvestment in public education and increasing costs are pricing low-income students out of an education,” according to a new report from Demos.org — The Great Cost Shift: How Higher Education Cuts Undermine the Future Middle Class. Over the last two decades, the authors highlight a trend of state disinvestment has shifted the cost education from state governments to students and their families. The result of this trend is students and their families are paying and/or borrowing a significantly more for a college.

According to the report, this long-term trend may threaten the economic health of states due to an insufficient supply of college-educated workers need to thrive in the 21^st economy. The authors contend that the insufficient financial support for students will contribute to low rates of college completion depriving states of an educated workforce.  They also contend that other long-term social costs include decreased social mobility by low- and middle-income students and a diminished middle-class.

Key Highlights include: