SSTI Digest

During the month of August, the SSTI Weekly Digest will be published every other week. The Digest will be published August 14 and August 28. It will resume weekly publication September 4.

The most comprehensive source of statistical information on science and engineering issues has been released by the National Science Board. "Science and Engineering Indicators: 1998" is the 13th report in a biennial series. The 800-page report contains a wealth of information on a variety of topics, including four cross-cutting themes: increasing globalization of science, technology, and the economy greater emphasis throughout the world on science and engineering education and training structural and priority changes in the science and engineering enterprise increasing impact of science and technology on our daily lives. Among the findings reported in Indicators are: R&D funding patterns have changed substantially with most of the R&D increases occurring in the industrial sector, which is now providing two-thirds of the nation's R&D funds. Academic institutions undertook 12 percent of the nation's R&D activity with two-thirds of its activity focused on basic research. Links are increasing between industry and academia.…

A Washington, D.C.-based think tank has issued a call for the creation of a $250 million fund to be directed to the states for Technology Innovation Challenge Grants. The fund would be used by the states to invest in university- industry and other technology and innovation network programs. Under the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) proposal, states would be required to match the federal funds at a ratio of at least one-to-one with industry required to match all public funds one-to-one. The net effect would be to leverage the federal money into at least $1 billion in funding. The proposal is contained in a PPI Policy Briefing, "Innovation, Social Capital, and the New Economy: New Federal Policies to Support Collaborative Research," which asserts that investment in innovation is critical and the federal government must develop a targeted and expanded investment program for R&D of scientific and technological advances. PPI contends that the federal government should modify and restructure its existing technology policy tools to promote the use of networks and consortia in…

The Research and Experimentation Tax Credit expired on June 30, and there is concern that it may not be renewed this year. Reports indicate that the most likely vehicle for the tax credit would be a general tax bill, but according to the American Institute of Physics, the chances of a tax bill being agreed to by Congress and signed by President Clinton before the end of the session are considered slim.

The State Science and Technology Institute is sponsoring its second annual conference "Science and Technology Programs: Catalysts for Economic Growth" on September 23 and 24. The conference will explore best practices, trends, and new developments in technology-based economic development programs. The conference program includes the following sessions: The Evolution of a Successful S&T Program will address how two programs have adjusted through the last decade, as the science and technology base and political climate have changed dramatically. Introduction to State S&T Programs will present an overview of the types of science and technology programs offered by the states. Conducting an Industry Cluster Analysis will offer a toolkit that explains exactly what industry cluster analyses are and the steps required in conducting this type of analysis. The Role of State S&T Programs in SBIR will examine methods of leveraging the SBIR program to meet state economic development goals and the latest trends in state SBIR programs. Marketing Your…

NASA announced the award of cooperative agreements to establish new technology business incubators at three NASA Centers: the Goddard Space Flight Center (MD), the Langley Research Center (VA), and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), combined with the Dryden Flight Research Center, (CA). The incubators will provide U.S. start-up or small existing technology firms and U.S. educational institutions with a wide array of critical business development support services for the primary purpose of commercially applying NASA technology. Each new business incubator will receive funding from NASA in the amount of $400,000 per year for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, and will in turn match (or exceed) NASA's contribution through cash or in-kind funding from non-federal sources. The awards were made to Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), California State Polytechnic University, and a team led by the Maryland Economic Development Corporation. Catherine Renault, managing director of CIT, indicated they would begin an immediate search for an incubator manager. Interested candidates…

Updates on activities the United States Innovation Partnership (USIP) are now available through an e-mail distribution list. To subscribe, send an e-mail to USIP@asme.org USIP establishes a new working relationship between the states and the federal government as an integral part of enhancing a National Innovation System to promote economic growth. USIP strategies include: building strategic partnerships among federal and state governments, universities and industry; strengthening the national S&T system; defining the role of states in the S&T system; maximizing the return on investment from technology; creating mechanisms to promote innovation; building national excellence in manufacturing; and supporting product development and commercialization. USIP is embodied in a memorandum of understanding between the National Governors' Association, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Industrial research and development spending totaled approximately $145 billion in 1996, a 10 percent increase for the second year in a row. More than 83 percent of that funding came from industry itself with the federal government providing the remaining funds, according to a new Data Brief prepared by the National Science Foundation. Small businesses, those with 500 or less employees, spent slightly more than $20.2 billion or 14 percent of the total industrial R&D spending in 1996. This represented a 21 percent increase over 1995's total. The increase in total industrial R&D spending was highlighted by a rebound in R&D spending among manufacturers. Following eight years in which nonmanufacturing R&D rose about 15 percent each year in current dollars, while manufacturing increases were approximately three percent, the figures almost reversed themselves in a single year. During the 1995-96 period covered by the NSF survey, manufacturing R&D rose by 12 percent — and just as dramatically — nonmanufacturing R&D slowed to a modest two percent increase for the year. …

On June 25, Senators Bill Frist (R-TN) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced a new bill, the Federal Research Investment Act (S. 2217). The purpose of the bill is to provide for the continuation of federal research investment in a fiscally sustainable way. The Act is intended to encourage as an overall goal, the doubling of the annual authorized amount of federal funding for basic scientific, medical, and pre-competitive engineering research over the next twelve years. The bill also sets a minimum level of investment in order to maintain the high priority that science, engineering, and technology had previously been afforded in the federal budget. The language of the bill provides for a steady 2.5% annual increase above the rate of inflation each year for the next twelve years. The bill assumes that the rate of inflation each year will be 3%. By the year 2010, if this bill is passed, the civilian research and development appropriation would total more than $67.9 billion. The bill also states that there is a minimum funding threshold. If funding ever fell below this level, long-term…

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Science Resources Studies has released three individual data briefs all pertaining to federal research and development funding trends. In FY 1996 total expenditures by universities and colleges for separately budgeted research and development activities in science and engineering (S&E) increased 3.5% over the FY 1995 level, reaching nearly $23 billion, according to data brief "Academic R&D Expenditures Maintain Steady Growth in FY 1996." When adjusted for inflation, academic R&D increased 1.4% over the 1995 level. Academic R&D expenditures financed by the federal government increased 3% in FY 1996 to $13.8 billion. This represents 60% of the R&D dollars expended at universities and colleges. Expenditures financed by all non-federal sources combined grew nearly 4% in FY 1996 to $9.2 billion. Spending from industry sources increased the fastest at 6% for a total funding level of more than $1.5 billion. Industry funding was followed by the largest non-federal source, institutional funds, with a 4% gain which totaled…

Lou Tornatzky has announced that he will be stepping down from his position as Director of the Southern Technology Council (STC), a position he has held since 1993. Tornatzky will be relocating with his family to the West Coast, but will continue to serve as an STC Research Fellow. STC is seeking to fill the position left vacant by Tornatzky's departure. The Director reports to the Executive Director of STC's parent organization, the Southern Growth Policies Board (SGPB). The STC Director has primary responsibility for building the projects and activities of the Council, but also participates in and leads projects of SGPB as well. STC fosters cooperative initiatives among regional science and technology organizations, and functions as a forum for information and recommendations about best practices, strategies, policies, and programs. Fifteen southern states, as well as several corporations and non-profit organizations, have representatives on the 40-person Council. The successful candidate for this position will be an innovative, mission-focused individual with the demonstrated…

The Education Commission of the States has released a report entitled "Transforming Postsecondary Education for the 21st Century." This report is the result of an extensive survey of Governors from the fifty states and Puerto Rico. Their perceptions regarding the need to reshape the higher education system to meet fundamental state needs is the focus of the study. The findings suggest that while some differences exist between governors in terms of how they view post-secondary education, there is more general agreement than may be commonly understood. Concerns about the economic competitiveness of the future workforce and public accountability of the post-secondary systems are themes that emerge from the data, suggesting that there will continue to be a growing emphasis on performance-based funding, vocational/career training and lifelong learning. The following points were uncovered in the survey and analyzed in the report: Education issues are of paramount importance to governors. K-12 education, post-secondary education and early childhood education/child care issues were…