SSTI Digest

2004 S&E Indicators includes chapter of state-level metrics The U.S. remains the world's leading producer and net exporter of high-technology products, ranking among the global leaders in research and development (R&D) spending. However, ongoing economic and workforce changes make the outlook for the future uncertain, according to Science and Engineering (S&E) Indicators 2004, a biennial report of the National Science Board (NSB) to the President.

S&E Indicators shows, for example, the U.S. now ranks 17th among nations surveyed in the proportion of its 18- to 24-year-olds earning natural S&E degrees. In 1975, the U.S. ranked third.

Venture capital (VC) kept up a steady pace in the first three months of 2004, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers/Thomson Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree™ Survey. Investments in the first quarter of 2004 totaled $4.6 billion going into 618 companies, the data show. The figure is below the $5.2 billion invested in the fourth quarter of 2003, but above the first quarter total of a year ago, $4.2 billion.

Life Sciences companies outpaced other industries for the seventh consecutive quarter, among MoneyTree™ Survey highlights. Investments in the sector totaled $1.3 billion, or 27 percent of all venture capital, and remained near their 12-year high reached in 2003. Biotech, alone, accounted for $943 million, while Medical Devices garnered $325 million.

Amid criticism from taxpayers, legislators in Hawaii agreed to renew the widely debated bill that extends high-technology tax credit for another five years, without a provision requiring the disclosure of companies that receive the credits, the Honolulu Advertiser recently reported.

Act 221 was first enacted in 2001 to encourage high-tech business in Hawaii and to diversify the state’s economy away from tourism and the military. Based on a survey of businesses that claimed the credits, the state Department of Taxation says the tax credits helped generate at least 600 new jobs in 2002, with an average salary of $46,000.

Competition for state, federal and industrial funding to support university research is increasingly fierce in the U.S. Growing interest in developing academic research capacity, eroding state support for higher education and federal R&D budgets barely keeping pace with inflation, let alone absorbing the growing percentage dedicated to Congressional earmarks, are some of the reasons. Universities or investigators able to claim being the "best" based on some sort of respected ranking could help influence state legislators, reviewers in a federal competition, or decision makers within industrial R&D facilities.

Washington State remains poised to capture more benefits from its technology-driven economy, according to the Index of Innovation and Technology released last month by the Washington Technology Center (WTC). As the state's lead organization to support science and technology, WTC publishes the Index to provide the state's decision makers with annual benchmarks for setting policy and  public investments to promote technology-based economic development.

The fourth annual provides analysis of more than 40 statewide measures and 12 regional indicators for evaluating the state’s economic growth with respect to technology industries. Innovation capacity, new company creation, company closings, patent generation, top technology patent areas, patents by industry, federal funds for research and development, and research and development (R&D) expenditures are all assessed.

The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) recently held its 18th International Conference in Atlanta, honoring excellence in business incubation programs, graduates and client companies. NBIA, a nonprofit organization, works to advance incubation and entrepreneurship. This year’s recipients include:

Cleveland Fed: "Innovation, Growth, and Economic Policy in an Environment of Change," At a time when manufacturing jobs are relenting to the pressures of an expanded service sector, foreign competition and productivity growth, the idea of economic prosperity has a renewed urgency with innovation as the greatest strength and flexibility the greatest asset, argues a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

In the 20-page essay portion of its 2003 annual report, Growth and Economic Policy in an Environment of Change, the fourth federal reserve bank district sets forth to answer, “What is the source of economic prosperity?” The report examines innovation's role in economic development, reviewing the theories that have shaped the nation's economic history with an eye on current and future challenges.

The Department of Commerce is accepting nominations for the 2005 National Medal of Technology awards, the nation’s highest honor awarded by the President to America's leading technological innovators.

The Medal was first awarded in 1985 following its creation in 1980 by Congress. It is given annually to individuals, teams or companies for accomplishments in the innovation, development, commercialization and management of technology, as evidenced by the establishment of new or significantly improved products, processes or services.

Past awards have been made in five main areas: technology product and process; technology management and policy; technology concepts; technology and technological manpower development; and environmental technology.

Cutbacks in service loom after 63 percent budget reduction The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is one of 15 finalists for the 17th Annual Innovations in American Government Award. Administered by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government, the award recognizes creativity and excellence in public sector service delivery.

MEP is the only economic development program included among this year's finalists, selected from more than 1,000 applications. MEP, a state-federal partnership, supports a network of more than 1,400 professionals in more than 300 locations around the country providing technical assistance, support services, engineering services, and business advice to small manufacturers.

With only two months to go in the 2004 fiscal year for most states, 32 are projecting small surpluses in the end - a sharp contrast to the situation they faced a year ago - according to a new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

At this time last year, states were still struggling to close a cumulative $21.5 billion budget gap. Now, they are working to close a total gap of $720 million, according to State Budget Update: April 2004.

The surpluses are not large. And they did not accumulate painlessly, the report points out. These projected surpluses are the result of improved collections in major revenue categories and the difficult paring of programs. Nine states expect surpluses below 1 percent of their general fund budgets. In Florida, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming, the surpluses are larger than 5 percent.

He may be more traditionally associated with gas-guzzling Humvees than anything remotely environmental, but Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger has become a big believer in alternative energy vehicles. The governor's recent call for creating a "Hydrogen Highway" by 2010 is, perhaps, the country's boldest commitment to getting hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on America's roadways anytime soon. It provides an example of how public-private partnerships, with the government serving as an early adopter of a potentially disruptive technology, could produce positive economic results for the state.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently selected Texas A&M University and the University of Minnesota to lead the second and third Homeland Security Centers of Excellence (HS-Centers). The department anticipates providing Texas A&M University, the University of Minnesota and their partners with a total of $33 million over the course of the next three years to address security in two key agricultural sectors -- foreign animal diseases and food security.

The selections were made from 23 proposals submitted in response to a December 2003 broad agency announcement by DHS' Science and Technology Directorate. Site visits were conducted for  seven finalists before selecting the two new HS-Centers.