SSTI Digest

Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives approved patent reform legislation that would represent the most significant reform of the U.S. patent system since the Bayh-Dole Act. The Patent Reform Act of 2007 (HR 1908) would move the U.S. to a first-to-file patent system rather than the first-to-invent system that has long made the U.S. an international outlier in intellectual property (IP) protection. A first-to-file system would help organize existing patents and simplify patent searches and challenges; however, this system also could lead to a rush to file new patents, placing those small businesses and individual inventors with fewer legal and financial resources at a significant disadvantage (see the June 6, 2006 issue of the Digest).

Public universities in most states compete with other state priorities for appropriations each year or two-year budget cycle. With the state’s fiscal year ending Sept. 30, no new budget passed by the legislature and a projected state revenue deficit of more than $1.5 billion for 2008, universities in Michigan may feel greater pressure to assert their importance to the state’s economy. The recent release of an independent analysis of the economic impact of the state’s three research universities, collectively known as the University Research Corridor (URC), may provide timely support for the argument to sustain or increase state investments in its higher education establishment.   Findings of the analysis indicate the URC is a major asset to the state’s economy, with contributions of $12.8 billion in 2006. The URC helped create 68,803 jobs in the state and produced 54 percent of the state’s science and engineering degrees, according to the analysis.  

Virginia could capitalize on its strong energy R&D foundation of universities, federal laboratories and businesses through coordination among research activities and by creating a consistent funding stream for federal R&D funding and technology commercialization, finds a new state energy plan released last week.   Mandated by SB 262 from the 2006 General Assembly, the Virginia Energy Plan outlines specific goals and recommendations that set forth energy policy for the Commonwealth over the next 10 years. Under the plan, the state will reduce the rate of growth in energy use by 40 percent, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent and seek to increase in-state energy production by 20 percent. The plan also calls for expanding consumer energy education and increased R&D within the areas of nuclear technologies, alternate transportation fuels, coastal energy production, and carbon capture and storage.

As with every public policy or program to promote economic development, TBED initiatives can fall victim to critics’ concerns regarding the value of these approaches if performance measurement is not an integral component of your efforts. Fair assessment of impact, though, remains a thorny issue for many TBED strategies because of the early stage of investment (e.g. support for university research, entrepreneurship education or even seed capital).   Even when one does measure the impact of a specific program or policy, additional potentially legitimate concerns can be raised for how well your performance compares to similar efforts in other parts of the state or country. Or, the lack of any sense of a control group of companies or entrepreneurs who did not participate in the initiative to use to benchmark the difference made by the effort can lead to unwarranted criticism from skeptics.  

Each year, Southern Growth Policies Board honors Southern initiatives that are improving the quality of life in the region through its Innovator Awards. The Awards are presented annually to one organization in each of Southern Growth’s member states ­ Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. In 2008, the Awards will be chosen from initiatives that promote youth engagement and leadership in the region. Each nominated initiative must fulfill these and other criteria:

Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm. The Office of Extension, Engagement and Economic Development at North Carolina State University (NCSU) is seeking someone for the position of director of the NC Economic Development Partnership. This position will have primary responsibility for building alliances for economic development and connecting the unique strengths of NCSU to appropriate agencies and industry clusters. These alliances include a significant partnership the North Carolina Department of Commerce. An M.A.or M.S. degree in an appropriate discipline and three years of experience in economic development program delivery in extension, outreach or public service, or a combination of suitable educational background and professional certification in economic development are required.

Nonprofit entities in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Washington will receive $13.2 million over six years for training and incentive programs for Advanced Placement (AP) and Pre-Advanced Placement Programs. The grants will be used for extensive training of teachers, identification of lead teachers, additional "time on task" for students, and financial incentives based on academic results. The funding is coming from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI), which was launched in March 2007 in response to the National Academies Rising Above the Gathering Storm report that calls for improving American students' performance in math and science to increase global competitiveness. In addition to the AP grants, NMSI is expected to award funds to up to 10 universities for UTeach programs, which encourage math and science majors to pursue teaching credentials during their undergraduate course study.

While dozens of states have instituted clean-tech strategies in order to cash in on the high-tech wave of the future, some are looking even further ahead. In several western states, private space travel and companies are drawing the attention of political leaders, researchers and investors eager to pioneer an industry that may still be many years away from creating dividends. California has long been involved in promoting space technology companies through the California Space Authority, which offers workforce training and business support opportunities. In New Mexico, Virgin Galactic plans to begin construction on Spaceport America next year with $67 million in state funds once the project is approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (see the Dec. 19, 2005 issue of the Digest).  

One of the many challenges for tech-based economic development organizations and private firms is to access and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge produced throughout the nation’s federal laboratory system. With the hope of making their intellectual property more accessible for commercialization, four research facilities within the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) recently signed a cooperative agreement to pool together their patents.   The Innovation Bundling Initiative aligns the intellectual property of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, the Nevada Test Site, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Under the initiative, patents originating from these facilities will be sorted into groups by subject matter and similarity of technologies, which can then be marketed in this organized manner to the private sector. Additionally, the bundling will enable collaborators to negotiate with a single entity for patent access, as opposed to dealing with the individual facilities that own each particular patent.  

What factors will enable regions with a historical strong industrial heritage to become attractive to creative individuals? According to Richard Florida in his 2002 book, The Rise of the Creative Class, creative people are most drawn to places that have an abundance of existing creative talent, a tolerance for diversity, and the ability to produce technology. Florida uses various measures to quantify a region’s talent, tolerance and technology - also known as the 3Ts - and combines them to produce a creativity index that allows comparison between locations.  

Canada’s Treasury Board recently announced the creation of an independent panel of experts to provide advice on transferring management of federal non-regulatory laboratories into private or other non-government hands. The four individuals comprising the panel, each with extensive experience and leadership in Canada's science and technology community, will consider different management options for the Canadian systems of federal research labs. Many of the largest nonregulatory and non-life science-related federal laboratories in the U.S. are managed by private companies through competitive selection processes. Others are co-located and run by academic institutions. The panel may consider privatization or quasi-privatization of life science-related labs that, in the case of the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Agriculture, remain government-operated. The Canadian panel will focus on four key objectives:

Over the past few months, several new research park announcements have been made, including a $2.5 billion public-private investment in Kentucky. Gov. Ernie Fletcher last month announced plans for the expansion of the Louisville Health Sciences Campus. The project will encompass the 30-block radius that houses the Louisville health sciences campus. A current U of L parking lot, known as the Haymarket property, will be converted into a 700,000-square-foot state-of-the-art laboratory and office space.