SSTI Digest

Jack Sommer is the new executive director of the Rhode Island Technology Council. Sommer previously worked with Student Advantage in Boston.

Yesterday's Providence Journal-Bulletin reports the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council (RIEPC) has reduced by merger the number of Slater Centers. With the goal of increasing the impact of the state's annual $3 million investment, the restructuring from six to four centers is intended to reduce overhead and administrative costs, allowing more of each resulting center's funding to flow into emerging businesses. The Slater Centers foster industry-university collaborations, build and strengthen relationships among academic institutions, and develop industry clusters. The centers offer business development resources — in the form of investments of up to $100,000 — to nascent ventures while creating a culture of entrepreneurialism. The merger, according to RIEPC officials quoted in the article, also permits center staff to focus more time and energy in the portfolio companies. Two of the original six centers, the Slater Center for Biomedical Technology and the Slater Center for Interactive Technologies, remain focused in their original technology areas,…

A Rhode Island Economic Strategy: 10 Ways to Succeed Without Losing Our Soul recently was released by the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council. The report outlines 10 economic development initiatives through four themes centered on places, people, clusters and connections.  Rhode Island must "strike a balance between collaborating and competing with its neighboring states" if it wishes to remain a center of New Economy activity, according to the report. To do so, the state must secure its share of the Boston Metro's high-wage industries while addressing infrastructure and the region's global competitiveness.  Some highlights among the report's 10 key strategies:  "Create synergy among technology, the arts, and outdoor recreation. Make Providence a new economy job engine for Rhode Island (so that) Boston is a job engine for the Metro. Reinvent Quonset/Davisville as a job engine for industrial parks in other towns, rather than as a competitor with them."  "Double the number and increase the diversity of college graduates…

The Rhode Island Technology Council (RITEC) is launching a benchmarking survey this week of the state’s information technology (IT) industry to determine how the council and state economic development organizations can be most effective at addressing the sector’s needs in light of the continued restructuring of the national IT industry. The survey includes two components: a company survey to collect demographic and compositional information on the industry; and an IT professional survey for skill and training assessment. Conducted in partnership with the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and the Economic Policy Council, the survey results will be compiled and released in September. For more information, visit http://www.ritec.org

Joseph Hammang, currently vice president for science, technology and business development at the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp., has accepted a position with the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council to run the Samuel Slater Technology Fund and six Slater Centers. Mr. Hammang will remain the Governor's Advisor for Science and Technology.

Eliminating all state taxes on long-term capital gains and providing incentives to encourage biotech start-ups and investment are among the recommendations advanced in The Competitive Edge: Rethinking Rhode Island Tax Policy for Success in the New Economy, the first report from the Tax Competitiveness Committee of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council (RIEPC). Governor Lincoln Almond requested RIEPC review the state’s tax policy and recommend mechanisms for enhancing Rhode Island’s tax competitiveness in the New Economy. The report identifies four specific recommendations for the state to consider to encourage high-wage, New Economy growth, including: Phase out taxes on all long-term capital gains. Adjust the corporate apportionment formula to double-weight for sales and phase in 100 percent weighting of sales for manufacturing. Extend the net operating loss (NOL) carry-forward from the current five-year limit to 20 years for start-up biotech firms. Modify exemptions to the sales and use tax to benefit the state’s biotech industry cluster, including…

This past summer, researchers at Brown University conducted the first nationwide content analysis of state and federal government Web sites. The study, Assessing E-Government: The Internet, Democracy, and Service Delivery by State and Federal Governments, focused on features available on-line, the level of variation across the country and between state and national governmental sites, and how those sites respond to citizen requests for information. Researchers surveyed state and federal chief information officers, performed an e-mail response test, and analyzed 1,813 websites for content in their study. The researchers report that e-government - the delivery of information and services online through the Internet or other digital means - has not reached its full potential and that quality varies widely from state to state, and from state to nation, and even within each state. Federal web sites were better at providing information and services than were the states. The authors suggested four steps government information officials should take to improve their e-government web sites:…

On Tuesday, WorldCom and Brown University announced grants for 20 programs in 19 states to link public schools or community organizations with local colleges or universities to develop educational technology projects for youth in underserved areas. The grants were awarded through Making a Civic Investment, a $5-million, five-year program funded by WorldCom and administered by Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 700 college and university presidents based at Brown.  The programs range widely from urban schools to Native American tribal communities, from online community newspapers to urban gardens to Web sites that gather neighborhood history. Many programs are intergenerational. Each program will receive annual funding for two years and will be eligible for continued funding for a total of five years. Leaders of the 20 programs qualify for annual professional development programs at Brown. WorldCom and its UUNET subsidiary will ensure that each project has high-speed Internet service for the term of the grant.  Although the size of individual projects varies, most grants…

Marty Grueber has left the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council (RIEPC) to join Battelle Memorial Institute and the Environmental Technology Commercialization Center. Beth Ashman Collins has been named director of research at RIEPC.

Rob Atkinson, the executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council, has announced his resignation. He has accepted a position with the Progressive Policy Institute, leading a new initiative on science and technology. As a result of his departure, the Council is seeking an executive director. The Council is a non-profit corporation, co-chaired by the Governor and a business CEO, with a 19-member board from business, labor, higher education and government leadership of Rhode Island. The Council is equally funded by industry and the state. It provides objective, in-depth analysis of the state's economy; develops and implements creative strategies; recommends policies; and advises the Governor, Administration and General Assembly. The ideal candidate will have a graduate degree; more than five years experience in economic development; policy research and analytical ability; demonstrated ability to build consensus, lead coalitions, and work with elected legislators; strong organization management skills; and, energetic approach. Resumes, which will be considered until the…

The Rhode Island Economic Policy Council has concluded a year-long examination of the state's economy with a call for nine recommendations to be implemented. The Council found,"Our economy has performed poorly in this decade. We have lost population every year because large numbers of people have moved out of state in search of economic opportunity. Five years into a nationwide economic recovery, key economic indicators in Rhode Island...are all still below their peak from the late 1980s." To strengthen the state's economy, the Council suggests that several steps be taken, including: Creating the Samuel Slater Technology Corporation to help existing firms move forward technologically and new firms commercialize technology Establishing a privately-operated early stage equity capital fund Increasing the R&D tax credit to 22.5% Expanding and merging multiple technical assistance organizations into an effective, coherent industrial modernization service The Economic Policy Council is a non-profit corporation equally funded…

The State of Rhode Island has selected two Research Centers of Excellence designed to expand research initiatives and encourage investment and job opportunities. The Rhode Island Center for Cellular Medicine and the Ocean Technology Center are the state's first technology centers. The Rhode Island Center for Cellular Medicine, which will receive a $500,000 grant, will support activity in the field of cell-based medical therapy. The Center is designed to initiate, test and manufacture cell-based technologies as well as provide specialized treatment facilities. Partners include Brown University Medical School, the Lifespan Hospitals, Cyto Therapeutics and three Rhode Island biotechnology start-up firms (BCR, Multi-Cell, and Cell Kinetics). In addition, matching funds totaling nearly $300,000 will be contributed by Lifespan, Brown University, and Cyto Therapeutics. The Ocean Technology Center of Excellence (OTCE), based at the University of Rhode Island, hopes to help revitalize Rhode Island's marine economy, which has been suffering from the effects of defense downsizing and the depletion of…