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SSTI Digest
Virginia Offers Unique Web Access Service
Virginia, through its Office of the Secretary of Technology and Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), has created a unique collaborative public-private partnership to increase Internet access and e-commerce capabilities for Virginia's businesses. In December, CIT and Virginia Tech launched VirginiaLink, a multi-vendor, broadband telecommunications program providing businesses with inexpensive advanced telecommunications services such as Internet access and voice, data, and video capacity.
To participate in VirginiaLink, businesses must join the VirginiaLink Consortium, a cooperative permitting individual small companies to bundle their purchases to take advantage of volume discounts available to larger buyers. Companies particularly expected to benefit from the program are smaller firms in rural parts of the Commonwealth.
Environmental Research Proposals Requested
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued several requests for research proposals during the past month that may be of interest to Digest subscribers and their clients. The following are requests whose deadlines occur during the next two months.
The Office of Research and Development (ORD)in partnership with NASA’s Office of Earth Science (OES) is soliciting grant applications to establish Estuarine Indicator Research Programs. These programs will be designed to identify, evaluate, recommend, and potentially develop new, innovative indicators of ecological conditions. A total of $6 million in funding will be awarded to four programs that include plans for large geographical areas. The deadline for applications is March 7, 2000. For more information, contact http://www.epa.gov/ncerqa and click on “announcements.”
Western Governors Create High Technology Council
The 18 governors who comprise the Western Governors’ Association (WGA) have agreed to create a Western High Technology Council to serve as a strategic alliance among states, technology firms and universities to advance the region's common interests in the technology-driven and knowledge-based New Economy. Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano, WGA Chairman, proposed the idea at the WGA winter meeting held in Las Vegas during December.
The governors asked Intel, Silicon Graphics, and other interested companies to work with university partners and WGA staff to develop a business plan for the proposed council. A concept paper prepared for the governors' discussion suggested the Council's membership initially include 15 to 20 high-level representatives from information, health, and biotechnology industries and leaders from academia and the public sector.
Editor’s Note
The SSTI Weekly Digest has typically focused on state and federal activities in technology-based economic development. This special issue of the Digest, however, focuses on the important role that foundations can play in technology-based economic development by:
- Examining opportunities presented by foundations’ use of “program-related investments,”
- Suggesting resources for identifying foundations that may be effective S&T
partners, - Providing an example of foundations’ activities in one sector – the
environment, and - Announcing a funding opportunity currently available from one foundation.
Foundations as S&T Partners
At first glance, the Baltimore-based Abell Foundation’s quiet contribution of almost $25 million over the past ten years to support local economic development may not raise much interest from state and federal technology-based economic development professionals across the country. However, the reaction might be different after learning that most of the investment was to emerging businesses in the form of venture capital.
Wealth of Information Offered by The Foundation Center
The Foundation Center is an independent, nonprofit organization established in 1956 with the mission to “foster public understanding of the foundation field by collecting, organizing, analyzing, and disseminating information on foundations, corporate giving, and related subjects.” Audiences include grant seekers, grant makers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public.
The Foundation Center's extensive online library of the country’s largest 10,000 philanthropic organizations is available by monthly subscription. A CD Rom directory of 50,000 philanthropies, as well as several other directory and guides, are also offered. The Center provides several additional publications, grant writing workshops, and research tools for prospective grant recipients.
Foundations Seeking to Make a Difference in Environment
This decade saw a significant increase in public and private investment in environmental technologies and programs. Confronting environmental issues will remain a challenge for many years to come.
Many philanthropic foundations are focusing their grants and investments toward environmental concerns. From areas of interest as diverse as sustainable agriculture to eliminating industrial hazardous waste, foundations are funding a variety of environmental programs and projects.
State-funded environmental science and technology initiatives, and in some cases, their client technology businesses, are eligible to apply for many different foundation giving programs. The following are two examples with links for obtaining more information.
Endowment Offers Funding for Improvement of Government
The PricewaterhouseCoopers Endowment for the Business of Government is offering three funding opportunities that will support new approaches to improving the effectiveness of government at the federal, state, local and international levels.
Competitive research grants of up to $15,000 will be awarded to individuals working in universities or nonprofit organizations for the development of research papers in one of the following five areas:
Comments Requested on Government-University Research Partnership
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has invited public comments on the draft Statement of Principles for the Government-University Research Partnership.
The complete December 21, 1999 Federal Register notice, including the draft Statement of Principles, may be viewed at the following web address: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/122399t.htm
CDVCA Job Opportunities
The Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA) currently has three positions available: Investment Officer, Consulting Coordinator, and Director of Research & Training.
CDVCA is an association of community development venture capital funds that provide equity financing to businesses in inner-cities and economically distressed rural areas throughout the United States and around the world. They promote use of the tools of venture capital to create jobs, entrepreneurial capacity, and wealth to advance the livelihoods of low-income people and the economies of distressed communities.
Descriptions of all three positions may be viewed on the CDVCA website (http://www.cdvca.org) or the SSTI Jobs Corner webpage.
TIIAP Announces Technical Assistance Workshops
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) will hold a series of workshops in January and February to discuss the goals and priorities of Telecommunications Information and Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP), a grant program that funds innovative projects aimed at extending the benefits of advanced telecommunications and information technology to underserved Americans in rural and urban areas. Congress has appropriated $15.5 million for the FY 2000 grant round. The Notice of Availability of Funds announcing the upcoming competition will be published in the Federal Register in early January.
Mass. Tech. Collaborative Releases 3rd Innovation Index
The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) has released its third annual Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy. The report tracks and explores the implications of 30 performance indicators on the long-term growth and stability of the Massachusetts economy. When statistics are available, Massachusetts is compared to its “leading competitor states” of California, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.
This year’s report includes a special analysis of electronic commerce in Massachusetts. The section highlights policy implications of e-commerce and proposes several recommendations for industry, academia, and government.