SSTI Digest

Last week, Governor Gray Davis signed into law California’s $99.4 billion budget which provides nearly $305 million for science and technology related programs plus an additional $20 million in research and development tax credits. Specific 

initiatives include:

The 21st Century Workforce Commission has released its final report, A Nation of Opportunity, and recommendations for developing the nation's new high tech workforce. The report provides an analysis of how leadership in regional partnerships of education, business and government can effectively address critical shortages of skilled workers in information technology jobs.

The Commission makes several recommendations for each of nine "Keys to Success" for overcoming the gap in IT workers and for increasing opportunities for changing composition of the American workforce and population. While intended to address IT, the report’s findings and recommendations have application across broader workforce issues in a knowledge-based economy.

The Commission's nine "Keys to Success" are:

In an effort to provide quality, high-speed telecommunications services throughout the state, North Dakota has committed $3 million for the first phase of a broadband telecommunications network that is expected to cost the state $20 million when completed. When the first phase is finished later this year, 218 locations in 64 communities will be connected.

“When complete, North Dakota’s network will provide the greatest universal access to high-speed telecommunication services of any rural state in the nation,” according to a Governor’s Office press release.

The initiative has three goals:

Public and private sources in the United States invest approximately $45 billion each year into medical research, but attempts to measure the return on that investment have been few. Exceptional Returns: The Economic Value of America’s Investment in Medical Research presents a preview of the findings of nine economists from the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University and Columbia University. The paper’s release is timed to be of value for the 2001 budget debates in Congress.

In summary, the economists found:

The Federal Railroad Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation is soliciting proposal concept papers for research projects, technology advancements and/or demonstrations directed at enhancing the deployment of high-speed rail service. Technologies which are high-priority research candidates for evaluation include: 1) grade crossing hazard mitigation systems, 2) innovative, low cost technologies to improve track and structures, 3) advance train control systems, 4) and non-electric locomotives and passenger equipments systems.

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.

Increasing globalization of research and development (R&D) and the prolific growth of information technology (IT) are major elements in a "science and engineering enterprise that is in transition," the National Science Board (NSB) reports in Science and Engineering Indicators 2000.

The new S&E Indicators report emphasizes a changing context for the National Science Foundation, and for science and engineering, generally. According to Science Board chair Eamon Kelly, there has been rapid worldwide growth and emphasis in science and technology, heightened by broad collaboration among nations. Recognizing the trend, the NSB devoted portions of each of the nine chapters in the new S&E Indicators to international comparisons and global patterns in science, engineering, education and technology.

A call for action for states from the Northwest region was the result of Linking Regional Resources, a conference of approximately 150 business, government, national laboratory, and university representatives held in Seattle.

The roles for the states and federal labs were identified after two days of updates and brainstorming on the status of five Northwest market sectors: information technology, biotechnology, extractive industries, agriculture and food processing, and forest products. Participants discussed challenges and strategies for technological success. The group agreed that there is a need for states “to play a role in coordinating and integrating technology commercialization and development” within the region.

According to the conference proceedings, participants identified the three concepts with potential for the greatest impact:

How does E-commerce and the Internet affect copyrights for businesses, universities, organizations, and individuals in your state? The United States Copyright Office and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration invite public comments on the issue before August 4, 2000. Comments are sought specifically for the effects of the amendments made by Title 1 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, (``DMCA'') and the development of electronic commerce on the operation of Sections 109 and 117 of Title 17, United States Code.

The objective of Title 1 of the DMCA, enacted on October 28, 1998, was to revise U.S. law to comply with two World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Treaties and to strengthen protection for copyrighted works in electronic formats. The DMCA establishes prohibitions on circumventing technological measures that control access to a work protected under the U.S. Copyright Act.

The most comprehensive accounting of federal R&D investment in each state was released by the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy last Friday. Discovery and Innovation: Federal Research and Development Activities in the Fifty States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico offers a wealth of information on federal research activity and investment in each state. 

The 700-page on-line publication provides a level of detail for federal research and development in each state that was not easily accessible before. For example, the individual state profiles, ranging in length from six to 32 pages, provide the following information: 

Oklahomans need “to make fundamental changes in the way we see ourselves and the way we do things...to prevent us from slipping farther and farther behind, languishing on the sidelines of the New Economy,” according to a 14-member committee of public and private sector leaders. 

Co-chaired by the State Treasurer and the Governor’s Chief of Staff, the committee was formed by the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) to study publicly-funded seed and venture capital initiatives around the country and make recommendations for Oklahoma. The committee found that “unless Oklahomans address some core perception and infrastructure issues, the existence of adequate and growing investment capital is impossible.” 



The committee identified five strategic directions to pursue: