SSTI Digest

Price Waterhouse recently announced that venture capital investments hit an all-time record in the second quarter of 1997. Total investments exceeded $3.18 billion, a 13% increase over the $2.80 billion reported in the second quarter of 1996, which held the previous record. These findings were released in the Price Waterhouse Venture Capital Survey, a quarterly report of venture capital investments throughout the United States. The following table represents the amount of venture capital dollars invested by region in the second quarter: Region Investment Amount % of Total Silicon Valley 1,034,247,000 32.5% New England 316,984,000 10.0% New York Metro 300,230,000 9.4% Southeast 282,906,000 8.9% Midwest 196,437,000 6.2% Texas 175,781,000 5.5% LA/Orange County 170,657,000 5.4% San Diego 128,420,000 4.0%…

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced that, for the first time, its computing resources will be made available to academic researchers. The California Institute of Technology, Stanford University, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign and the University of Utah were selected as DOE's Academic Strategic Alliances Program (ASAP) Centers of Excellence. The program will team the universities with three national laboratories - Sandia, Livermore and Los Alamos - to develop advanced computer modeling and simulations to certify the safety and reliability of nuclear weapons in support of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, as well as broader national goals. DOE operates the world's fastest computer at Sandia National Laboratories. It is building computers at Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories that will be three times faster than the Sandia computer. DOE sought assistance from the universities to develop skills and techniques for using this computing power to maintain the nation's nuclear stockpile. The Academic Strategic…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that, as a first step in the transition from paper to electronic exchange of information, it is reformatting the current Notice of Grant Award (NGA) form. Effective October 1, all NIH grant, cooperative agreement, and fellowship awards will be issued in a letter format. The new letter-format NGA will no longer provide a cumulative record of all transactions affecting the particular budget period. For example, a supplemental award will only reflect the amount of the supplemental action, not the cumulative support for that budget period. NIH has begun pilot testing the electronic NGA with a small group of grantee institutions. These institutions have provided NIH with a generic E-mail address established for this purpose. NIH recommends that any grant recipients wishing to receive electronic NGAs establish a generic and stable E-mail address specifically for this purpose. Similar to the current paper process, the NGA will be sent to the designated e-mail address. The grantee institution will be responsible for…

The Modernization Forum, a national association for the manufacturing extension community, seeks a project manager to join its team of professionals who work with the manufacturing extension community nationwide. The project manager's responsibilities will include report research and writing, analysis of trends relevant to manufacturing extension, project management, direct interaction with member organizations across the country, and significant contributions to seminars and the annual national conference. The complete job description can be found on SSTI's home page at http://www.ssti.org. For more information, contact Carol Lessure, Research Director for The Modernization Forum, at 313/271-2790 ext. 7, or by e-mail at clessure@modforum.org

On Tuesday, President Clinton signed two budget bills, approved last week by Congress: one aims to balance the budget by the year 2002, and a companion piece cuts taxes by a net $95 billion over five years. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 includes a provision that extends the 20 percent federal research and development tax credit from May 31, 1997 to June 30, 1998. The Act, while not providing a two-year extension that proponents sought, provides continuity for the program. The tax credit is not a permanent provision and was allowed to expire for months between 1995 and 1996. The Act also includes a three-year Brownfields tax incentive that will reduce the cost of cleaning up thousands of contaminated, abandoned sites in economically distressed areas by permitting clean-up costs to be deducted immediately for tax purposes. The Treasury Department estimates that this $1.5 billion tax incentive would leverage more than $6 billion for private sector cleanups nationwide, allowing redevelopment of 14,000 Brownfield sites. Details of the measures now must be written into 13…

The Department of Commerce is soliciting comments on its draft Strategic Plan, which enunciates a mission statement, strategic themes, and goals and objectives for its programs. This 122-page plan responds to the Government Performance and Results Act's (GPRA) requirement that each agency prepare a Strategic Plan that aligns its programs and activities to its mission. The GPRA identifies stakeholder consultation as a key part of this strategic planning process. The central role of technology in promoting economic growth of the nation is recognized in both the Department's mission and its plan. The plan is available on the Internet at www.doc.gov/ bmi/ BUDGET/ STRTDRFT/strtoc.htm or by calling SSTI. Comments about the Department's plan may be sent via e-mail to John Fassett at <john.fassett@nist.gov>

SSTI is pleased to be able to provide reports issued by the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government. The Commission was created in 1988 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York to help government institutions respond to the unprecedented advances in science and technology transforming the world. This premier science and technology organization published a series of reports that are highly diverse, intellectually rich, and practical in application. The main themes, ranging from Congress' role in science and technology policy to environmental research and development, address issues critical to all science and technology practitioners and policy makers. Due to the support of the Carnegie Corporation, SSTI is able to provide 20 of the Commission's reports. Descriptions of these reports along with an order form can be viewed on SSTI's website. Or, to have the SSTI Publications Catalog mailed to you, please contact the Institute at 614/421-SSTI (7784). The Carnegie reports are free; however, shipping charges may apply.

Robert A. Eisenstein, Ph.D., has been appointed Assistant Director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF). The appointment will become effective September 8. Eisenstein has served as the director of the physics division at NSF since 1992. As director, he played a significant role both in the management of large-scale projects such as the Laser Interferometer Gravity Wave Observatory, and in the establishment of physics divisions in biological physics and complex phenomena. NSF Director Bob Lane stated, "Bob has the leadership and wisdom to help pave a new road for integrative, multi-disciplinary, and increasingly interdependent science and engineering." Dr. Eisenstein received his masters and doctoral degrees in physics from Yale University, and his AB degree in physics from Oberlin College. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Ohio Governor George V. Voinovich, began his term as the National Governors' Association (NGA) Chairman at the association's annual meeting in Las Vegas this week. He succeeded Nevada Governor Bill Miller. Governor Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware, has been chosen as the Association's Vice-Chairman. Governor Carper will become Chairman of NGA next summer when Governor Voinovich's term expires.

Rob Atkinson, the executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council, has announced his resignation. He has accepted a position with the Progressive Policy Institute, leading a new initiative on science and technology. As a result of his departure, the Council is seeking an executive director. The Council is a non-profit corporation, co-chaired by the Governor and a business CEO, with a 19-member board from business, labor, higher education and government leadership of Rhode Island. The Council is equally funded by industry and the state. It provides objective, in-depth analysis of the state's economy; develops and implements creative strategies; recommends policies; and advises the Governor, Administration and General Assembly. The ideal candidate will have a graduate degree; more than five years experience in economic development; policy research and analytical ability; demonstrated ability to build consensus, lead coalitions, and work with elected legislators; strong organization management skills; and, energetic approach. Resumes, which will be considered until the…

The State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) recently released an issue brief that examines specific tax incentives offered by the states to encourage research and development (R&D) activity. The report, State Research and Development Tax Incentives, identifies tax incentives for R&D offered in 1996 by individual states and describes their major attributes. It also considers the use and cost of the incentives. SSTI found that thirty-five states offered some type of incentive for research and development activity in 1996. Many of the states offered an income tax credit modeled after the federal research and experimentation tax credit guidelines. Other types of incentives included sales and use tax credits and property tax credits. SSTI also found that the relative impact of these incentives is uncertain. Sixteen states were able to address questions regarding the impact of the tax incentive in terms of the number of companies that received the incentive and the resulting tax expenditures. The limited amount of data available on the number of companies that use the incentive…

Apparently as a result of Secretary of Commerce William Daley's pledge to cut the number of political employees in the department, Graham Mitchell, the assistant secretary of commerce for technology policy, will lose his job at the end of September, according to published reports. It is unclear if the position is being eliminated. The Office of Technology Policy, headed by Mitchell, works in partnership with the private sector to develop and advocate national policies that maximize technology's contribution to U.S. economic growth, the creation of high-wage jobs, and improvements in quality of life.