SSTI Digest

The State Science and Technology Institute’s (SSTI) third annual conference will focus on how to meet the challenge of the New Economy through science and technology programs.

The conference will focus on some of the largest issues facing policy makers and practitioners, including:

communicating the importance of science and technology in today’s economy, meeting the demand for a skilled workforce, encouraging the formation of early-stage capital for commercializing locally-developed new technologies in a globally aggressive economy, and understanding the implications and opportunities of e-commerce.

The conference program includes the following sessions: Wednesday, October 6 Two optional, concurrent preconference workshops (seating is limited)

On October 1, Texas will begin offering a tax credit for business research and development expenditures. The new law, Texas Senate Bill 441, provides Texas corporations with a franchise tax credit equal to five percent of eligible R&D expenses for up to 50 percent of a company’s total franchise tax liability. Unused portions may be carried forward for up to 20 years.

To be eligible for the credit, R&D expenditures must occur within a Texas Strategic Investment Area, which include: counties with unemployment rates above the state average and per capita income below the state average; or federally designated urban enterprise communities or urban enhanced enterprise communities. Senate Bill 441 requires the state comptroller to prepare a biennial report on the impact of the R&D tax credit.

A copy of the bill can be viewed on the Texas Legislature website: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/

To help small businesses participate fully in the expected e-commerce revolution, Senator Bingaman (D-NM) has introduced legislation to create a national e-commerce extension program. Senators Rockefeller (D-WVa), Snowe (R-ME) and Mikulski (D-MD) are co-sponsors of the bill, S. 1494.

E-commerce sales are expected to grow from the 1998 level of $100 billion to $1.3 trillion in 2003 -- less than four years from now. The opportunities for businesses prepared to compete in the electronic commerce market are significant. The challenges and implications for others, particularly in areas, populations, and companies underserved by the Internet, are enormous.

There is potential trouble ahead for R&D and those states with relatively low levels of federal support will be impacted most severely, according to the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Analysis of the Impact of FY 2000 Federal R&D Investment Scenarios on Economic Growth.

This report, the second conducted by MTC, looks at five funding scenarios currently under consideration by Congress and their effect on the economies of states receiving varying levels of federal R&D support.

Among the reports' conclusions are:

Technology-based economic growth can be extremely beneficial to metropolitan areas, but comes with risks, according to America's High Tech Economy: Growth, Development, and Risks for Metropolitan Areas. The report was prepared by the Milken Institute, a non-profit economic think tank founded by Michael Milken.

Among the report's findings are:

A concentration of high-tech output does not guarantee continuing high-tech growth,

Technology-based economic growth is causing greater income disparity, reducing job security and job tenure, and increasing the risk of unemployment for workers in their 50s,

High-tech manufacturing industries are among the most volatile in the economy, and

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has committed almost $94 million over the next five years in matching funds for five new Science & Technology Centers (STC). The new centers join 23 existing centers that were selected in 1989 and 1991. (Two more original STCs cease to exist.)

The STC program funds academic-industry-government partnerships in specific technology areas for fundamental research activities that create educational opportunities. The centers also encourage technology transfer and innovative approaches to interdisciplinary research projects.

The five new centers are:

Science and Technology Center on Nanobiotechnology (Lead institution: Cornell University)

Innovation indices or "S&T report cards" have grown increasingly popular over the past few years on both state and local levels. The trend has now reached the national level with the release last week of the Progressive Policy Institute's, The State New Economy Index.

An effort funded by the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT) of the U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to be released this fall.

The State New Economy Index is the first collection of 17 indicators of states' relative positions in the changing economy. The indicators are classified into five categories:

Serious deficiencies in pre-college education and wavering support for basic research may erode the nation's ability to convert science and technology into new products, jobs, and profits and decrease the prospects of better lives for U.S. citizens, according to a new book from the National Research Council (NRC).

Harnessing Science and Technology for America's Economic Future: National & Regional Priorities identifies goals and actions to guide the science and engineering community and government policy-makers in meeting the nation's future economic needs. The book presents the findings, recommendations and papers of the National Forum on Harnessing Science and Technology for America's Economic Future and an NRC committee co-chaired by former governor and SSTI Board chairman Dick Thornburgh and William Spencer, CEO of Sematech.

The goals and recommendations outlined by the committee include:

The Department of Energy has announced the selection of 204 Phase I awards under the 1999 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. The grants were made to companies in the 31 states listed in the accompanying table. More detailed information for each award can be found on the newly redesigned DOE SBIR website: http://www.sbir.er.doe.gov/sbir

State

Awards

State

Awards

CA

44

Preparation of S&T indicators on a local or regional level continues to increase. The Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Sciences, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, has released Cincinnati's Technology Benchmarking Study. The report compares the technology assets and performance of 24 urban areas across the U.S. using 17 indicators, then makes recommendations for strengthening Cincinnati's technology base. The report is on the Internet at www.iams.org

While more people are connected to the nation's information infrastructure, the "Digital Divide" between those Americans with the information tools to participate in the New Economy and those without is actually widening, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide is the third study NTIA has prepared examining Americans' access to telephones, computers, and the Internet. The report provides more than 100 charts and tables outlining the state of the problem across several measures and presents trends over the period 1984-1998.

Calling it one of the most important economic development activities of his administration, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge recently announced the creation of the "Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse" -- a public/private partnership intended to provide support, infrastructure, and the expertise needed to accelerate the development and re-use of system-on-a-chip (SOC) technology.

The Greenhouse — a partnership of three Pittsburgh universities, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the Commonwealth, and three international corporations — is intended to make southwestern Pennsylvania a worldwide leader in the development of SOC technology.