On Monday, President Obama released his $4 trillion budget request for FY16. His proposal is again unlikely to find support in Congress, but serves as a useful guide to the administration’s priorities and a source of new ideas.

Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to classify broadband as a public utility. Once rules have been put in place this summer, providers will no longer be able to selectively block access to legal content, throttle access based on content or services or offer paid prioritization of traffic. In addition, the FCC also voted to preempt state laws that impair the deployment of community broadband providers.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology-Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST-MEP) announced the award of 10 new five-year cooperative agreements to manage Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers. In an open competition, the existing MEP centers in Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, were selected to receive a total of $26 million in funding – an increase of about $10 million (nearly 60 percent). In addition to the additional federal funding:

The National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Energy (DOE) far outpace their peer agencies in patenting output per dollar, according to a new study by Battelle's Technology Partnership Practice. Research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the focus of the study, generated one patent for every $16.9 million invested by the federal government between 2000-2013.

This week, the White House released details on its ninth planned institute within the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. The Department of Defense will award $75 million for a new manufacturing hub focused on Revolutionary Fibers and Textiles. Regional manufacturers, universities and nonprofits will soon be invited to compete for the funds, which require a 1:1 cost share. The institute will be the sixth funded through the Defense Department. Three others have received support through the Department of Energy.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) issued a Federal Funding Opportunity for nonprofit organizations to operate state MEP centers in 12 states – Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The objective of the MEP Center program is to provide business and technical services to small- and medium-sized manufacturers within the state of operation.

As a reminder, the closing date for applications to the Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program is Monday, October 5. A program of the EDA’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the 2015 RIS Program Competition includes $10 million to support two unique grant opportunities:

Earlier this week during a keynote address at the United Nations, a U.S. Department of State official unveiled an initiative to bring 1.5 billion people around the world online by 2020. Global Connect, the new initiative, will be a cross-agency effort to make Internet access a top priority in foreign policy. The State Department announcement explicitly states that Internet access is being made a priority because of its role in entrepreneurship, innovation, knowledge flows and market creation.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced today the addition of three more cluster organizations to the portfolio of communities supported through the SBA Regional Innovation Clusters initiative, raising the total number of awardees in the program to 14.

On April 5, 2012, President Obama signed Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) into law with the intent of helping small businesses and startups raise capital through several changes to long-standing securities regulations, including a change that would allow companies to raise equity from both accredited and non-accredited investors through a publicly solicited crowdfunding campaign (Title III of the Jobs Act).

Funded through a small tax on extramural research budgets, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards are offered by 11 federal agencies with an overall goal of backing innovation by small businesses. With a typical maximum of $150,000 for phase I awards and $1 million for phase II awards, SBIR programs have had varying degrees of success – especially when factoring in their explicit mandate to enhance opportunities for women and minorities.

Overwhelming majorities of voters across the nation and in key swing states support a comprehensive initiative designed to parlay the United States’ strong research base into greater economic prosperity and a higher quality of life for all. These findings come from a new survey conducted for the Innovation Advocacy Council, an initiative of SSTI, by the bipartisan team of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and TargetPoint Consulting.

This week, congressional leaders reached a deal on spending that would prevent a federal government shutdown. The omnibus appropriations bill would fund the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Regional Innovation Program at $15 million, an increase of $5 million over the previous year. The Regional Innovation program is SSTI's highest legislative priority because of the flexible funding it provides for regional innovation activities. 

In the February 3 Federal Digest, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued proposed rules affecting Impact Small Business Investment Corporations (SBICs) and is accepting comments. In addition to codifying the existing, temporary guidelines, the proposal would add new investment certifications, change the expedited processing benefit for reduced fees and replace the branding penalty for non-compliant SBICs with the threat of imposed default.

This week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker announced the 25 recipients of the Economic Development Administration’s 2015 Regional Innovation Strategies grants. These awards support innovation and capacity-building in regions around the country through two grant programs: the i6 Challenge and the Seed Fund Support Grants competition. The Regional Innovation Program remains a key priority for SSTI.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the designation of 12 new communities as part of the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) initiative. This second round of manufacturing communities was selected by an interagency panel to receive targeted support from 11 different federal agencies and programs. The IMCP initiative is intended to accelerate U.S. manufacturing by investing in partnerships and long-term economic development strategies in key regions. More than $1 billion in federal assistance will be available to the 12 designated communities.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is conducting three regional forums on the proposed recompetition of MEP Centers in 11 states and Puerto Rico. The regional forums are intended to provide interested entities more information about the MEP program, the federal funding opportunity and answers to any questions regarding the funding announcement prior to its targeted release of January 2016.

A new report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) proposes new categories for IT research investment in the coming years. Federally-funded IT research is currently grouped in eight categories introduced in 1995 for the purposes of budgeting and tracking. PCAST is recommending an overhaul of these categories to reflect the contemporary IT landscape. Other recommendations focus on continued investment in cybersecurity, Big Data, health IT and other hot topics.

In a fact sheet released ahead of President Obama’s visit to Macomb Community College in Warren, MI, this week the Obama administration announced new steps to expand apprenticeships and continue other efforts around workforce development and free community college.

Applicants for the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) FY 2016 Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance Programs Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) will notice some changes to the application process when the FFO is released in the coming weeks. The standard ED-900 form has been replaced with a selection of shorter forms that can be mixed and matched to fit the needs of different solicitations. Also, a short proposal form can be submitted to ascertain whether a project is responsive to the FFO, instead of having to complete a full application.

Last week, the Treasury Department released guidance recognizing foundations may make investments with a wider range of return and risk expectations so long as they are not jeopardizing or compromising their charitable missions.  Proponents for the change expect the guidance to open the doors to more mission-related investments (MRIs), impact investing and innovative finance approaches to dealing with the growing array of societal and environmental issues confronting the globe.

Last week, the Department of Defense announced the launch of the eighth institute in the National Network of Manufacturing and Innovation (NNMI) in Cambridge, MA. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will spearhead the consortium of 89 manufacturers, universities and nonprofits to develop new technologies around fiber and textiles manufacturing. Alongside the launch, the White House released a new report highlighting the administration’s advanced manufacturing priorities and how federal funding is being used to support strategic technologies.

On April 25, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) will begin accepting applications for the 2016 round of the Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program. A total of $15 million in federal funding will be available through the program’s i6 Challenge and Seed Fund Support Grant competition. EDA will hold a series of webinars next week leading up to the release of the Federal Funding Opportunity on April 25, 2016. Webinar times are available on EDA’s RIS page.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is all the rage within the information and telecommunications sector and has both applications and implications for every aspect of your life.

With at least six federal agencies supporting quantum computing research and at least 10 agencies supporting synthetic biology research, more collaboration is needed to effectively marshal the agencies’ efforts to maintain U.S. competitiveness, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).