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SSTI Digest
People
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.
People
John Dougherty resigned his position with the Illinois Coalition to accept a job in the private sector.
People
Kate Latta Hoffher, senior public affairs specialist with the National Science Foundation's Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, is on detail to NSF's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) until the end of July.
People
Terri Adams is serving as Chief of the Science, Technology and Energy Division of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Martha McInnis resigned from ADECA in January.
"R&D Trends in the U.S. Economy" Released
U.S. dominance as a source of technology for other economies is in serious trouble, according to "R&D Trends in the U.S. Economy: Strategies and Policy Implications," a new report by Gregory Tassey, senior economist with the Strategic Planning and Economic Analysis Group of the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST).
The report highlights trends and global developments that are changing the nature of innovation and underlying research and development activities. NIST concludes that without the merger of R&D policy and a long-term economic growth policy, the U.S. role in innovation and the world economy is threatened.
Only seven percent of US industries have the necessary R&D intensity, measured by R&D-to-sales ratios, to maintain world class innovation, Tassey observed. Equally discouraging is the shift of US private R&D objectives to shorter-term projects and quicker paybacks.
Federal Government-University Research Partnership Reviewed
An interagency task force of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) has released its findings on the state of the science and technology partnership between the federal government and universities.
The review of the government/university partnership began three years ago in response to letters from leaders in industry and academia, state governors, and Congress stating that incremental changes in government policy and administrative practices were undermining national objectives and harming universities. They urged a thorough review of the government-university research partnership to strengthen it and make it more effective.
USIP Reports on State Best Practices Roundtable
The United States Innovation Partnership (USIP) reported on a recent roundtable discussion on the 21st Century Economy. The topic of the discussion was the role of states in science and technology. The roundtable highlighted "best practices" in technology-based economic development in five states (Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, Utah, and Pennsylvania).
USIP is a state-federal partnership, created in 1997, to establish a new working relationship between the states and the federal government which will promote the development of a national innovation system. The roundtable was profiled in the most recent issue of PACESETTER, a publication of the Technology Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. A complete copy of the text of this article will be available soon at http://www.ta.doc.gov/Newsletters.htm
Eaton Corporation Donates Patent Portfolio
The Mid-America Commercialization Corporation (Manhattan, Kansas) announced that the Eaton Corporation is donating a substantial portfolio of patented technologies for the benefit of the corporation and Kansas State University.
The patent donation, valued at approximately $17 million, will be used as a technology platform upon which additional research programs in automotive, semiconductor and other areas might be developed at Kansas State University. The patents will be available for commercial licensing as well.
Eaton, which has its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, is a manufacturer of highly engineered products that serve industrial, vehicle, construction, commercial, aerospace and semiconductor markets.
The Eaton portfolio of donated patents includes 57 patents across six different technology areas, including:
Technology Education Trends Analyzed
The number of technology degrees awarded have declined by 5 percent since 1990, according to a new report issued by the American Electronics Association (AEA). The one area in which there has been a significant increase in degrees conferred is business information systems, which increased by 24 percent.
The report, CyberEducation: U.S. Education and the High-Technology Workforce, A National and State-by-State Perspective, examines technology education trends in both K-12 and higher education.
At the college and university level, the report examines the number of students awarded associate, bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in six core technology fields (engineering, engineering technology, computer science, business information systems, mathematics, and physics).
The top five states, ranked by technology degrees conferred are:
New SBA Programs Offered
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced two new programs to assist small businesses.
Y2K Loans
SBA will begin accepting applications in early May for a loan program to help small businesses with problems related to the date change from 1999 to 2000 (Y2K).
The new loan guaranties are designed to meet two needs. First, the program will enable small businesses to purchase systems, software, equipment, and services necessary to become Y2K compliant. Second, the program will assist small firms that suffer economic injury as a result of the date change.
More information about the program is available on the SBA's web site at www.sba.gov/y2k or by calling 1-800-U-ASK-SBA.
Two States Consider Paying Tech School Tuition
In what could be the beginning of a new trend in state economic development incentive/inducements, bills receiving bi-partisan support in the Michigan and Delaware state legislatures would address businesses= needs for more technically skilled workers by having the states pick up the students' tab for community college tuition and technical training.
Governors in at least 14 other states have proposed establishing, increasing or expanding scholarship programs this year, according to SSTI's latest Issue Brief Science & Technology in the States: Excerpts from the 1999 Governors' Addresses (see related article in this Digest).
Position Available
The Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) is seeking a chief executive officer. OCAST's statutory mandate is to contribute to the public policy goals of expanding and diversifying Oklahoma=s economy, providing new and higher quality jobs to improve Oklahoma's per capita income and encouraging the development of new products, new processes, and whole new industries in Oklahoma. The full description can be found on the SSTI homepage at http://www.ssti.org
Applications are due by May 7.