SSTI Digest

Our Digest archives are back on-line! The Calendar of Events and S&T Resources have also been updated. We apologize for the problems many of you encountered trying to use the site during the past two weeks.

The Angel Capital Electronic Network (ACE-Net) will be privatized by September 1, 2000. The Internet-based listing service for growing companies and angel investors has been run by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy. A privatization team representing ACE-Net regional partner organizations finalized plans in May for making the transition from the SBA. Job descriptions of future staff positions are being drafted. The privatized ACE-Net is expected to provide additional services to registered angel investors, such as educational tools, research, and training. When launched in September 1995, ACE-Net was to be early entry into web-based investor-business matching for capital. Unfortunately, the effort was hampered by federal bureaucracy and regulations, according to ACE-Net supporters. One of ACE-Net’s accomplishments has been to help streamline investment offerings across state lines, greatly reducing the regulatory burden of securities filing. To date, 40 states have amended their securities laws to allow streamlined, web-based equity…

Collaboration and partnership among public, private, and non-profit entities have taken on a renewed urgency as states and localities seek quick and cost effective methods to cultivate the necessary environment to foster and support technology-based economies. SSTI’s latest publication focuses on two groups of technology-based economic development organizations that have grown in numbers alongside the New Economy: 1) regional technology councils, and 2) industry associations focused on information technology and life sciences, the industrial sectors most associated with the New Economy. As these groups have become larger and more numerous, their strength as allies in S&T policy has emerged. The potential role for these non-governmental organizations to serve in science and technology policy formulation, program design, and service delivery is substantial — and growing. Most technology councils were created during the past five years. Collectively, the 165 councils profiled in The SSTI Directory of Technology Councils already involve more than 56,000 companies and individuals in 41 states…

We try hard to be objective in the SSTI Weekly Digest and to present information without editorializing. This is one of the rare instances that we will not even attempt to be objective. We have several items involving SSTI to report: Chris Coburn has accepted a position with the Cleveland Clinic as the executive director of CCF Innovations and chief operating officer of NovaMedics, Inc. CCF Innovations will be responsible for all Clinic activity related to invention disclosures, patenting, licensing of intellectual property, industrially sponsored research, material transfer agreements, technology spin-offs, and collaborating with state and local technology organizations. NovaMedics is a Clinic subsidiary established to incubate start-up companies built around CCF technology.  As a result of Chris’ career change, he has resigned as president of SSTI and as a member of the SSTI board of trustees. Start-up of the Institute was the result of many individuals, but foremost among those was Chris. His vision, energy, and support were critical both to the creation and…

According to a new report by a public-private collaborative project called Ecom-Ohio, Ohio lags many others in the “Net” Economy. The group draws attention to the state’s digital divide among certain population groups and laments slow Internet adoption in small and medium-sized businesses and a lack of public incentives and investment to help correct the situation. The Statewide Report on Ohio’s Readiness for Global Electronic Commerce uses 22 key indicators to measure the state’s performance and preparedness for an information economy against a set of national benchmarks established by the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP) in 1998. CSPP is a coalition of 11 CEOs for some of the nation’s largest information technology companies. The benchmarks and CSPP assessment process helps a locality or region determine at which of four possible stages the community currently resides and what specific steps are necessary to move to the next, higher stage of e-commerce readiness. Ecom-Ohio is believed to be the first statewide application of the CSPP benchmarks. Ecom-Ohio found the overall infrastructure…

Anna Darin has been named the executive director of the Council of Development Finance Agencies (www.cdfa.org) 

Digest readers may have noticed in our headlines over the past few months that state efforts to improve their economic standing through science and technology are undergoing a tremendous period of growth and expansion. While state S&T programs have been in existence since the 1950s, most activity occurred in the early 1980s and early 1990s during severe economic downturns. The activity of the last 15 months rivals that of the early 1980s and will in all likelihood ultimately surpass it. New Developments in State Science and Technology Policy compiles the key state S&T initiatives covered in the SSTI Weekly Digest since late 1998. The 20-page publication serves as a convenient snapshot of current directions in state S&T policy and is an accessible way for state program officials, legislators, and others to learn easily about the most recent developments in the states. SSTI sponsors will be receiving their complimentary copies of New Developments in State Science and Technology Policy early next week. For all others, individual copies are available for purchase from SSTI for $15.00 (US). The price…

SSTI has added two new features to our web site to make your visits easier. Both are free services from Mind-It.com. First, a site search engine has been added to our home page http://www.ssti.org allowing quicker browsing and researching. The second new feature is a free notification service http://www.ssti.org/whatsnew.htm  which sends subscribers email messages whenever our site is updated. Recipients are then able to click on the link to SSTI's home page to see the modifications we've made to the site (follow "What's New"). Mind-It.com allows individual users to monitor several unrelated web pages with this valuable service http://mindit.netmind.com/

SSTI bids a warm farewell to Deb Tharp, who has accepted a full-time position with Battelle Memorial Institute in the Technology Partnership Practice group.

The SSTI Weekly Digest has typically focused on state and federal activities in technology-based economic development. This special issue of the Digest, however, focuses on the important role that foundations can play in technology-based economic development by: Examining opportunities presented by foundations’ use of “program-related investments,” Suggesting resources for identifying foundations that may be effective S&T partners, Providing an example of foundations’ activities in one sector – the environment, and Announcing a funding opportunity currently available from one foundation.

Beginning January 7, the SSTI Weekly Digest will be distributed only by electronic mail. Fax delivery service will end with the December 31 edition. Because the Digest is available to its readers through subscription revenues, we ask that redistribution be limited to your immediate, internal staff. Forwarding or redistributing of the Digest outside the offices of our subscribers is considered a breach of our copyright. We retain the right to cancel any subscription when this request is violated. We are open to negotiating rights for greater redistribution.

In addition, a couple of new faces have been added to the SSTI team. We warmly welcome Shannon Burnett as our newest Policy Analyst and Ruth Carr as our Executive Assistant.