SSTI Digest

Near the end of 2020, Congress passed the FY 2021 defense authorization (overriding a presidential veto) and folded multiple policy bills into the joint appropriations and coronavirus relief bill. This legislation includes new authorizations for semiconductor research facilities, clean and renewable energy innovation, and new studies of assets for critical research areas.

Innovation-related policies within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2021 include the following:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has continued to follow through on improvements to federal technology transfer proposed through the Return on Investment initiative. In December, the agency revealed legislative text for statutory changes and, on Monday, released a notice of proposed rulemaking related to Bayh-Dole.

A thriving innovation economy requires a robust R&D enterprise — with participation by academia, government, and the private sector. As a substantial performer and funder of R&D in the United States, the strength of private industry’s R&D activity in a region can provide an indication of the region’s capacity for bringing innovative technologies to market. Using data from the recent release of the National Science Foundation’s 2018 Business Enterprise R&D Survey, this SSTI analysis shows that while total R&D performed domestically by private companies in 2018 increased over 2017, as did the share of the R&D that was paid for by companies, this was not the case for all states.

The relief bill passed last night falls short of assisting states that face strains on their budgets and increasing demand for assistance from their constituents. However, the bill does provide $900 billion for the first broad COVID-19 relief package to pass since the CARES Act was signed into law on March 27th. The major items in this legislation are the extension of unemployment insurance benefits, direct payments to individuals, and a new round of loans through a modified Paycheck Protection Program. No broad funding for state and local funding is included, but there are several provisions that will support specific activities.

Small Business Assistance

The legislation provides $284 billion for a new round of forgivable PPP loans (including the $137.5 billion remaining in the program). Even companies that have already received one loan can be eligible. Business size is limited to 300 employees, and the business must have experienced at least a 25 percent reduction in revenues between the same quarters in 2020 and 2019. Several new types of businesses are now eligible, including 501(c)(6) nonprofits.

The final FY 2021 budget provides $1.4 trillion in total federal funding, including increases in some programs affecting the innovation economy. Among SSTI’s Innovation Advocacy Council priorities: EDA’s Build to Scale received an appropriation of $38 million, SBA’s Regional Innovation Clusters received $6 million, and SBA’s Federal and State Technology (FAST) program received $4 million. These are just a few of the federally-funded initiatives that support regional innovation economies and a wide range of federal R&D activities.

Department of Commerce

In a year that has seen the economy drop off a cliff, unemployment skyrocket and racial discrimination shock the consciousness of a nation, one might think all hope is lost. But there are those who are working to take this moment in time and re-emerge on the other side a stronger, more inclusive nation. As many workers face the prospect of a job that may never return, Americans in a more comfortable position who have been able to shift their work to remote locations have applauded the work of those left on the front lines during the current pandemic. And a realization that the economy wasn’t always working for all, and the American dream was becoming more of a nightmare for large segments of the population, is coalescing into action for better jobs and greater inclusion.

The clean energy sector has continued to feel the economic strain brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, with many businesses citing the need for additional federal assistance to prevent future employee layoffs and furloughs. Third Way, working together with the Clean Energy Business Network, recently released their second survey of clean energy firms and the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused to their business.

The incoming Biden administration continues to outline its priorities for the Federal Communications Commission. According to the Brookings Institution, net neutrality, broadband access and 5G security will be among the next administration’s top policies. Executing on these priorities will require both a new FCC chair and legislative action.  

Repealing 2018’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order appears to be a primary goal for the Biden administration, allowing for the reestablishment of net neutrality through a return to 2015’s Open Internet Order. Brookings notes that because of Americans’ increased reliance on the internet due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Biden FCC “could go further and explicitly prohibit data caps, zero-rating, and interconnection fees within a net neutrality rulemaking.”

In nearly every research institution, there are individuals who achieve oversized impacts. In the academic environment, publications and citations were the traditional standard bearers for advancing science, engineering and discovery — unfortunately, tenure and title are still stubbornly tied to these measures in universities. Patents became the next tier for measuring performance many years ago. Beyond scientific advancement, however, a paper or patent that isn’t applied or put to practical use has little real value from the perspective of national competitiveness or economic development. 

Increasingly, researchers who invent and see through the commercialization of their patents and technologies are being celebrated for impacts to both their fields of study and the economy. The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has recognized more than 1,400 such people since 2010 through its Fellows program, adding 175 of them this year from more than 100 universities and governmental or nonprofit research institutions across the planet. 

The Census Bureau is requesting public input on the Economic Census. Conducted every five years, the survey serves as the most comprehensive source of information about American businesses. According to the Census, the survey establishes data for nearly 1,000 industries and more than 20,000 regions, including company revenues, and is used to support measures of gross domestic product and standard industry classifications (i.e. NAICS). The starting point for the 2022 survey will be the questions asked in 2017. Comments are requested by Feb. 12, 2021, and should be directed to Kimberly Moore, the Census Bureau’s chief of the economy-wide statistics division at econ.content@census.gov.

Over 5.2 million homes and businesses are now planned to receive broadband internet access through the Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The FCC announced on Monday that 180 service providers, ranging from satellite companies, cable operators, fixed wireless providers, electric cooperatives, and telephone companies, have been awarded funding to begin expanding broadband internet access to rural areas throughout 49 U.S. states and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The FCC’s news release explains that these providers “must meet periodic buildout requirements that will require them to reach all assigned locations by the end of the sixth year,” while also noting that “they are incentivized to build out to all locations as fast as possible.”

At a critical junction for the American workforce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (USCCF) has launched a new initiative to develop new models for investment in the workforce of the future. Partnering with Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Talent Finance initiative advances a new public-private approach to talent development that is intended  to address the challenges and requirements of the new economy — one that competes on talent. In the wake of the pandemic’s upheaval of the economy, workers are facing greater uncertainty and the prospect of jobs that may not return.