At almost every turn, the important roles played by universities and colleges in a knowledge-based economy seem to be validated. Industry and political leaders across the country are talking of the need for strong institutions of higher education, particularly public research universities, to improve national, state, and local competitiveness. 

The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) and the Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) recently presented the first part of a two-phase study by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies entitled The Genealogy of Maryland Entrepreneurs.

To give environmental technology entrepreneurs the chance to have their business plans analyzed by experts and win money for it, the National Environmental Technology (NET) Incubator in Wilberforce, Ohio, is hosting the first annual National Business Plan Competition.

With more than 110 great titles to aid the policy, practice and study of tech-based economic development, the SSTI Publication Catalog, Resources for Building Tech-based Economies officially is online.

Collaboration and partnership among public, private, and non-profit entities have taken on a renewed urgency as states and localities seek quick and cost effective methods to cultivate the necessary environment to foster and support technology-based economies.

We try hard to be objective in the SSTI Weekly Digest and to present information without editorializing. This is one of the rare instances that we will not even attempt to be objective. We have several items involving SSTI to report:

According to a new report by a public-private collaborative project called Ecom-Ohio, Ohio lags many others in the “Net” Economy. The group draws attention to the state’s digital divide among certain population groups and laments slow Internet adoption in small and medium-sized businesses and a lack of public incentives and investment to help correct the situation.

Several papers and report have been released recently on the Advanced Technology Program (ATP); five were published on line last week alone. Below are descriptions of selected papers and links to download full copies. Additional titles are available on the ATP web site: http://www.atp.nist.gov/atp/pubs.htm

Rosalie Ruegg has retired from her position as the Director of the Economic Assessment Office for the Advanced Technology Program in the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Our thanks to SSTI Weekly Digest subscriber Chris Brantley of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Inc. <www.ieee.org&gt; for the heads up on this story.

The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) is seeking proposals to evaluate Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT). EPSCoT was established by Congress in 1998 to improve the technological competitiveness of the states that have historically received less federal R&D funding than a majority of states.

Alan P. Balutis, a 21-year veteran with the U.S. Department of Commerce, to be director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program. Balutis has been serving as the deputy chief information officer for the Department of Commerce since 1994.

Anna Darin has been named the executive director of the Council of Development Finance Agencies (www.cdfa.org) 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has the following four solicitations open for research and development projects.

Digest readers may have noticed in our headlines over the past few months that state efforts to improve their economic standing through science and technology are undergoing a tremendous period of growth and expansion. While state S&T programs have been in existence since the 1950s, most activity occurred in the early 1980s and early 1990s during severe economic downturns. The activity of the last 15 months rivals that of the early 1980s and will in all likelihood ultimately surpass it.

SSTI has added two new features to our web site to make your visits easier. Both are free services from Mind-It.com. First, a site search engine has been added to our home page http://www.ssti.org allowing quicker browsing and researching.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP) has issued a request for public comment on several changes to ATP rules.

The State Science and Technology Institute 1998 Annual Conference, "Science & Technology Programs: Catalysts for Economic Growth," was a success with over 100 S&T professionals from 30 states and the District of Columbia attending. The conference, which was held in

Just a reminder that early registration for SSTI's Second Annual Conference, Science and Technology Programs: Catalysts for Economic Growth, are due August 31. The conference will be held September 24 & 25 in Columbus, Ohio. Full details can be found on SSTI's home page at www.ssti.org or by calling SSTI at 614/421-SSTI (7784).

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.