SSTI Digest

Responding to the demands of business leaders to close the nation's workforce skills gap, the National Skill Standards Board (NSSB) has created the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Voluntary Partnership to represent the telecommunications, computer and information industry sector. By bringing together representatives from business, labor, education and community-based organizations, NSSB is facilitating the creation of a system of skill standards, assessments and certification that is expected to help the nation's businesses compete in the global economy and improve worker productivity. ICT is the fifth industry-led Voluntary Partnership recognized by NSSB; the other partnerships cover the manufacturing, sales and service, education and training, and hospitality and tourism industry sectors.

NASA's Office of Aerospace Technology has released an integrated strategy, or blueprint, that suggests developing new technology will lead to a new era of aviation. The strategy, while not completed in time to be reflected in the Administration's 2003 budget request, will be used to guide federal aeronautics investments in research, education and development. The NASA Aeronautics Blueprint: Toward a Bold New Era of Aviation identifies four elements on which NASA will focus — the digital airspace, revolutionary vehicles, security and safety, and a state-of-the-art educated workforce — to address critical issues in aeronautics. NASA must work closely with the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, academia and industry to be successful, according to the blueprint. With respect to the four elements above, the following points are made:

As a means of highlighting the performance and composition of state economies, Harvard's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, led by Dr. Michael Porter, has published profiles on all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The profiles, available at http://www.people.hbs.edu/mporter/stateprofiles.htm, include data based on the Cluster Mapping project — a multi-year effort to statistically define clusters and analyze regional economies in the U.S. Relevant economic areas for companies and metropolitan areas, as defined by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, are outlined. The profiles are arranged by the following topics:

The Census Bureau report released last week, 2000 Annual Survey of Manufactures, Geographic Area Statistics, provides annual data from 1997 through 2000 on the number of all manufacturing employees, number of production workers, value added by manufacturers, cost of materials, value of shipments, and new capital expenditures for manufacturing establishments by state. The data cover manufacturing industry groups such as food, apparel, lumber, chemicals, computers and transportation equipment. Due to the adoption of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) in the 1997 Economic Census, approximately half of the industries in the manufacturing sector of NAICS do not have comparable industries in the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system that was used in the past. As a result, comparability of current and historical data is severely impacted, and the report only presents data from 1997 through 2000.

The U.S. Small Business Administration and My Own Business, Inc., have jointly created a free, online entrepreneurship course for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. The announcement was made at the Conference on Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century in Washington, D.C., earlier this week. The 11-session interactive course was developed by My Own Business, Inc., a Los Angeles-based, non-profit firm founded in 1992 by a successful entrepreneur, to develop and provide educational materials on entrepreneurship. The course includes audio sound bytes, quizzes, feedback and an online tool to create business plans. Each of the individual components of the virtual business seminar can be pursued in sequence or independently. The 11 segments are:

Arizona The Arizona State Legislature has agreed to pull $10 million from the Arizona Job Training Program due to a current budget crisis, according to the Arizona Daily Star. A temporary agreement until the Legislature adopts the state budget, the cut in funding for the  program would preserve grants that have been approved but have  not been awarded. About $400,000 for program funding would remain until July 1. The training grants provided through the program enable companies to administer formal training to boost their employees' skills; it is the only state program in Arizona that provides in-house training. Cleveland, Ohio

The Ohio Department of Development, which works collaboratively with businesses, communities and the Ohio Legislature to develop financial and technical programs, seeks to fill the position, Grants Administration Manager. The position's duties include managing the outside Grant Administration Team, assessing project results and progress, and performing other duties assigned by the Deputy Director of the Technology Division. Candidates must show the following: a Bachelor of Science in Business or Public  Administration or a related area of study; a minimum of five years  experience in public administration, economic development or a related field; proficient in the use of computers (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Excel, database spreadsheets); and excellent written & verbal communication skills. Candidates also must be able to travel up to 40 percent of time. Previous supervisory experience is  preferred. More detailed information is available on SSTI's website at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm

Governors will be forced to make cuts in education, health care and transportation budgets in light of the recently passed stimulus package that will reduce state revenues but provide no financial assistance for states facing increasing health care costs, says the National Governors' Association (NGA). H.R. 3090 contains a three-year, 30 percent bonus depreciation provision that would cost the 45 states with corporate income taxes calculated under federal rules an additional $14.6 billion over three years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. This comes as the states, nearly all of which are required by law to balance their budgets, are facing a cumulative $50 billion budget shortfall.

Louisiana Governor Mike Foster's economic development plan calls for $37 million for a Biosciences Initiative, at the state's top research universities, $15 million to support industry clusters for regional universities, and $8.4 million to spur enrollment growth in community and technical colleges. Coupled by a $150 million bond issue, funding for bioscience endeavors would equal a $187 million investment.

Because knowledge-based services can be supplied anywhere across the world due to increased international investment in IT infrastructure, future U.S. competitiveness hinges on diversification and broadening of the technology-based manufacturing sector, according to NIST Senior Economist George Tassey. Tassey's lastest report, R&D and Long-Term Competitiveness: Manufacturing's Central Role in a Knowledge-based Economy, lays out the critical role manufacturing and manufacturing R&D plays in the U.S. economy, presents the dire forecast for low-R&D intensive manufacturers, and presents a framework for analyzing federal R&D investment strategies consistent with a national innovation system. Tassey also argues that the zeal or enthusiasm for information technology that dominated policy discussion during the past few years and overshadowed and "induced and unbalanced perspective" on the appropriate strategies to secure economic competitiveness.

To shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of the region's biotechnology cluster, Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Economic Development (CED) has published A Biotechnology Action Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania. The CED report says the Pittsburgh biotechnology cluster largely depends on the amount of available venture capital and the development of new technologies and that total funding levels must be increased to continue biotech development. Dividing the biotechnology/biomedical cluster into three sub-clusters — pharmaceuticals, instruments and devices, and tissue engineering — the report draws a comparison with other regions, including Boston, Philadelphia, San Jose and Chicago, and observes that Pittsburgh ranked 165th nationally in 1998 in biotechnology patents per biotechnology employee.

President Bush has nominated Elias Zerhouni, executive vice dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as the new director of the National Institutes of Health. San Diego Community College Chancellor Augie Gallego has been selected as the new chairman of the American Council of Education, only the second community college executive to hold the position since the organization's founding more than 80 years ago. Rod Linton has been tapped to lead Utah's new Office of Science & Technology within the Dept. of Community & Economic Development. Mike Keene is the new State Science Advisor and Director of the Centers of Excellence Program. Shaye Mandle has resigned as president of the Illinois Coalition to accept a position as the new executive director of the East West Corporate Corridor Association in DuPage County.