Pittsburgh Puts Stimulus to Work as Early-Stage Funds to Fill Capital Gaps
As credit and early-stage investment capital become increasingly scarce, more state, regional and local governments and organizations are stepping in to help local entrepreneurs get their companies off the ground. In many cases, offering equity investments is not always an attractive option to the public organization.
Tech Talkin' Govs, Part V
The fifth installment of the Tech Talkin' Govs series includes highlights from state of the state, budget and inaugural addresses from governors in Alabama, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Utah.
SSTI Job Corner
Complete descriptions of these opportunities and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.
SSTI Job Postings
The Complete description of this opportunity and others are available at http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.
Scotland Universities to Direct Nearly 11 Percent of Funding on Pursuing Innovation
2008 Excellence In TBED Winners Honored For Achievement In Building Tech-Based Economies
Four recipients selected as best practice models in technology-based economic development were honored during an awards ceremony last week in Cleveland during SSTI's 12th Annual Conference. The awards follow a national competition emphasizing impact and replicability in approaches to building and sustaining tech-based economies.
EU Promises $1.28 Billion for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Initiative
Bank bailouts may be capturing all of the headlines, but a new initiative from the European Union (EU) promises to inject a considerable pool of money during the downturn to accelerate the development of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The European Commission, as well as participants from the European research community and industry will contribute nearly 1 billion Euros (U.S. $1.28 billion) to the public-private partnership over the next six years to fund research.
TBED People
Southern Growth hired Ted Abernathy, Jr., former Executive Vice President & COO of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, to serve as its Executive Director, filling the vacancy created by Jim Clinton's resignation in September.
Universities Perform more than One-Third of Canadian R&D, Thirteen Percent of U.S. R&D
Universities in Canada are a major component of the country's science and technology ecosystem, and as gauged by funding, they performed 36 percent of Canada's R&D activities in 2007. In the U.S. comparatively, universities accounted for 13 percent of the R&D performed in the country.
Communities Around the World Celebrate First Global Entrepreneurship Week
People
John Wilkinson was promoted to minister of research and innovation in the Ontario cabinet.
Toronto Regional Innovation Gauge Released along with Other Competitiveness Reports
A handful of competitiveness reports have been released in the past two weeks, each comparing various geographic locations and incorporating a range of innovation metrics. Perhaps the publication garnering the most international press has been The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008 by the World Economic Forum.
The Clustering of Technology-based Economic Development Organizations
The theory of spatial clustering has been very popular in the TBED field for many years, as researchers attempt to explain the transformation of places like Silicon Valley and the reasons various locales are economically competitive. Practitioners have utilized the theory as a method to describe their own state and regional economies and to support the development of specific industries. As an industry cluster grows, additional benefits of agglomeration are realized.
Singapore Government, Private Industries Investing in Innovation
Three major announcements were made in Singapore last month focusing on R&D of new technologies and educating the workforce to produce specialized graduates in upcoming fields.
Gov. Rendell Unveils $850M Clean Energy Fund
Earlier this month Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell announced a broad state strategy to improve the state’s energy independence, support alternative energy business, and reduce the state’s environmental impact. The key element of the new state plan is an $850 million Energy Independence Fund, designed to reduce energy costs for consumers and shift the state’s usage toward clean and renewable sources. Gov. Rendell hopes the plan will save Pennsylvania consumers $10 billion over the next 10 years by lowering energy costs and reducing consumption.
Québec Commits $1B+ for Innovation & Research Strategy
The provincial government of Québec committed to infusing $888 million (Canadian) into its science and technology community over the next three years, as a result of the innovation and research strategy released earlier this month. The new investment is in addition to $278 million committed this year alone for research infrastructure and the Québec Aeronautical Industry Development Strategy.
Venture Capital Events Offer Educational Opportunities for Undergraduates
While many universities offer business plan competitions and programs in entrepreneurship and commercialization, fewer opportunities are available to learn about the capital side of the equation. Last week, however, two major conferences invited students to learn more about venture capital (VC) investment and emerging trends in the venture industry.
People & TBED Organizations
Brenda Wyland will join the Research & Technology Park Inc. at North Dakota State University as the incubator manager, effective Feb. 1, 2008.
Recent Research: Why Do Manufacturing Firms Choose to Collaborate on Innovative Projects?
Manufacturing firms come in all shapes and sizes. Little ones. Big ones. Ones that need more labor from their employees to assemble components. Ones that need more R&D from their employees to design products.
Berlin Commits $250M for Star Faculty Recruitment at Research Institutions
Our German isn't what it should be and online translators weren't as helpful as we'd expected, but we wanted to make readers aware of the size of the investment Berlin is making over the next four years to recruit star faculty to its four research universities and the four local, private research institutions of Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, Helmholtzgemeinschaft, Leibniz Community, and the Max Planck Society.
Pennsylvania Commits $650M for Alternative Energy Package
This afternoon, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell signed a $650 million package of tax incentives, loans and grants to spur the development and use of clean energy technologies within the state. The governor believes that the bill will help the state leverage as much as $3.5 billion in private investment and help the state build a stronger clean energy industry. Highlights from the Alternative Energy Investment Act include:
U.S. Completes $531M Contribution to Large Hadron Collider Project
The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation recently announced that the U.S. had completed its contribution to the international Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Project on budget and ahead of schedule. By the end of the year, the LHC at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) laboratory near Geneva will generate its first particle collisions and research output. Total U.S. contribution to the project is about $531 million of the $5.89 billion cost of the project. Although the U.S.
Pennsylvania Supports STEM Investments, Expands Keystone Opportunity Zones
Several bills from the 2008 legislative session were signed into law by Gov. Ed Rendell during the past two weeks, including the fiscal year 2008-09 budget, providing enhancements to K-12 programs encouraging science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and a measure to significantly expand the Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) tax incentive program.
Research Park RoundUp
The following overview is a synopsis of select recent announcements from research parks across the world, including groundbreakings and development plans to support vibrant regional economies based on science, technology and innovation.
Microsystems and Nanotechnology Product Center Opens in Alberta
The Alberta Center for Advanced Microsystems and Nanotechnology Products (ACAMP), funded with $8 million from the provincial Alberta government and $3.5 million from the Canadian government, recently commenced operations in the Edmonton Research Park. The new program will be structured around three central components to assist commercialization in this area: packaging and assembly, product development, and marketing.