The Kiva City program will extend small business access to microloans in U.S. cities facing the greatest small business stress. Kiva, a nonprofit organization, offers personal microlending services. Building upon Kiva's Internet-based lending model, the goal of the Kiva City program is to spur job growth and economic recovery through microfinance by building connections between Kiva's global network of 592,000 individual lenders and small business owners across the country.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Bureau of Business Research and Department of Economics has released its latest edition of the State Entrepreneurial Index, a state-by-state analysis of entrepreneurial activity. The index uses five components — percentage growth and per capita growth in business establishments, its business formation rate, the number of patents per thousand residents and gross receipts of sole proprietorships and partnerships per capita — to rank states in business formation and innovation.

Massachusetts continues to be the country's most successful high-tech economy, according to the 2010 edition of the Milken Institute State Technology and Science Index: Enduring Lessons for the Intangible Economy. The Index uses 79 indicators to evaluate and rank state performance in five categories: R&D inputs, risk capital and entrepreneurial infrastructure, human capital capacity, technology and science workforce, and technology concentration and dynamism.

Three recent reports from Maine provide insight into the challenges of fostering an innovative economy in a rural state. Overall, the research suggests that Maine has done well in its efforts to support startups, but could do more to help those startups expand and find new markets. By encouraging innovation-based businesses to expand to markets outside of Maine and by offering mentoring services, the state could overcome the stagnation that can occur when companies and states focus on local markets.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released their annual State and Local Governments' Fiscal Outlook and long-term projections paint a bleak picture. Even though both state and local government near-term fiscal outlooks have improved slightly since 2010, these sectors face long-term revenue declines that will necessitate "substantial policy changes" to stimulate revenue growth.

From 2000 to 2008, the U.S. ranked 18th out of 30 countries in the growth of government-funded university research, according to a new report by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF). In University Research Funding: the United States is Behind and Falling, Robert Atkinson and Luke Stewart compared the U.S. government and business funding for public university research against 29 other developed countries.

U.S. spending on higher education research and development (R&D) declined in FY12 (after adjustments for inflation) for the first time in almost 40 years, according to data from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The decrease marks the end of a period of modest growth since 2009 in which R&D expenditures increased at an average of five percent each year. While data on higher education R&D spending by state is not yet available for FY12, NSF has released state data through FY11, including expenditures by funding source

North Carolina is rich in resources to support a thriving innovation ecosystem. But despite its strengths, several factors are preventing the state from reaching its full potential to fuel and sustain strong economic growth. These and other findings are outlined in a recent report tracking the state's performance in 38 measures related to innovation assets, activities and trends. The fourth in a series of indexes produced over the past 13 years, the report benchmarks North Carolina with six key comparison states, the U.S. overall and leading countries.

Startups spun out of university research parks stayed in business longer than the overall national average and helped to improve regional competitiveness by establishing their companies within the area where they were incubated, according to a recent survey from the Association of University Research Parks (AURP). The survey reported the findings of 108 university research park directors over the past five years to demonstrate the extent to which the parks are focused on advancing innovation in their region.

U.S. adults are less proficient in basic reading, math and problem-solving skills than many of their international counterparts, according to the first Survey of Adult Skills from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). OECD found that, overall, U.S. adults possessed below average proficiency in literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments.

The Canadian government must focus its research and development (R&D) support efforts on "the goal of growing innovative firms into larger enterprises, rooted in Canada but facing outward to the world and equipped to compete with the best," according to Innovation Canada: A Call to Action — a new report commissioned by the Honorable Gary Goodyear, the Canadian Minister of State for Science and Technology. The authors contends that Canada has a solid foundation to build its knowledge economy.

The European Union (EU) released its first competitiveness report on all 27 EU member nations and six associated countries — Innovation Union Competitiveness Report 2011. Providing a deeper perspective on European R&D intensity, the report is intended to monitor the progress towards EU and national R&D headline targets and provide economic evidence and analysis to underpin the development of EU and national innovation policies. Twelve key findings are highlighted within the report including:

State fiscal conditions are likely to remain constrained in the coming year due to a weak national economic recovery and loss of federal stimulus funds, according to the latest Fiscal Survey of States. The survey points to some improvement in state finances in 2011 with 38 states reporting higher general fund spending in 2011 compared to FY10. However, 29 states still have lower general fund spending in FY12 compared to pre-recession levels in FY08 and total state revenues in 2012 remain below their 2008 levels by nearly $20.8 billion.

TBED organizations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island recently published comprehensive reviews of their respective state innovation economies. Both studies employ metrics of the general economy, as well as indicators of STEM education, research, venture investment and technology industry activity. They also use data from other state economies to track their progress in creating a vibrant and sustainable innovation ecosystem. The reports provide a useful set of innovation metrics that can be applied in other regions.

Massachusetts

Most state economic development programs employ quantifiable metrics, but too few report metrics related to job creation and job quality, according to a study and report card released by Good Jobs First. The authors examined 238 economic development subsidy programs in all 50 states and Washington D.C., including corporate income tax credits, cash grants, loans, enterprise zones, worker training grants and other types of programs. Though none of the states scored an "A" in the report ratings, Nevada, North Carolina and Vermont took the top spots.

Ownership of intellectual property (IP) rights has become central to the strategies of innovating firms worldwide, according to The Changing Face of Innovation, a new report from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Researchers contend that rapidly growing global investments in innovation and the globalization of economic activities are key drivers of this trend. Between 1980 and 2009, global patents rose from 800,000 applications to 1.8 million.

A new report from the Milken Institute, Best-Performing Cities 2011, finds cities that saw significant improvements to their economic performance between 2010 and 2011 were able to: