The State Science and Technology Institute's first conference, "Promoting Economic Growth Through State Science and Technology Programs," will be held June 16-17 in Washington, D.C.

The conference will cover topics identified by the states as being of interest, including:

South Carolina Governor David Beasley has appointed a 17-member Technology Advisory Council. The Council is to examine how South Carolina can attract technology-intensive companies, find strategies to promote high technology jobs and identify specific technologies that are important for other industries.

The National Governors' Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) released the results of the annual Fiscal Survey of States. The report incorporates information gathered by NASBO from January through April 1997, and includes actual figures for fiscal 1996, preliminary figures for fiscal 1997, and numbers contained in Governors' proposed budgets for fiscal 1998.

The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) has released an assessment of NASA's technology transfer and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs.

The recipients of the 1997 National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology were announced last week. The awards are described as the United States' equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

This week's Digest covers two new independent reports that separately assess two critical aspects to how well nations are prepared for the economic recovery: competitiveness and educational attainment. The news, obvious in our choice of headlines, may suggest the past year - actually several years - has not been kind to the United States relative to other nations. Reading the articles one will see, however, that it isn't time that is working against the U.S.

In the nation with the greatest difference in lifetime incomes between those people with college degrees and those without, it may be surprising to learn the U.S. ranking for college graduation rates has fallen from 1st in 1995 to 14th in 2007. The finding is included in Education at a Glance 2009, an indicator report looking at countries who belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The United States fell from its position as the most competitive national economy according to the World Economic Forum's (WEF) recently released annual Global Competitiveness Report. Switzerland took the top spot as the U.S. fell to a close second place in the weighted ranking system. The report attributed the switch in positions to a number of growing weaknesses that have plagued the U.S. over the past year, while the Swiss economy remained relatively stable. Though the U.S.

As economists and policymakers debate the details of how and when the nation will recover from the recession, the topic of entrepreneurship and the role it will play in shaping the new economy continually arises. In the coming years, some analysts predict a rise in entrepreneurship both as a result of massive layoffs and an aging workforce not yet ready or able to retire.

A complete description of this opportunity is available at: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm.

What TBED Approaches are Successful in the Current Economy?

What TBED Approaches are Successful in the Current Economy?

Often overshadowed in the media by state budget deficit reporting, city fiscal conditions are rapidly declining and expected to worsen through 2010 and beyond, finds the National League of Cities (NLC) annual survey. Additionally, pessimism about the ability to meet city fiscal needs is at its highest level in the history of NLC's 24-year survey on city fiscal conditions.

The current fiscal pressures on regional technology-based economic development initiatives have been never greater than they are now. And, as the article above points out, things are going to get worse over 2010 and 2011 before they get better.

Additionally, since local communities became proactive partners with their universities, businesses, tech councils, civic organizations, and states to support economic growth through innovation, the need for local TBED never has been greater. Economists and policy wonks agree: the next economy is being built on innovation and technology.

The U.S. will not be able to achieve its goals for human space flight unless substantial changes are made to NASA's plans for the next decade, according to a report from the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee. The report's conclusions and recommendations, if they are adopted by the Obama Administration, would have significant impacts on those state and local TBED initiatives focused on NASA installations, space science, and the aerospace industry.

This year as states were wrestling with significant deficits, several proposals to consolidate TBED initiatives with other units of government emerged. The most recently decided was in Connecticut, where the General Assembly did not move forward with a plan to merge the state's two primary financing agencies, Connecticut Innovations and the Connecticut Development Authority to form a new Connecticut Economic Innovations Authority. Gov. Jodi Rell had proposed the consolidation.

Halfway through its money and its first decade, Ohio's Third Frontier Initiative has helped generate a $6.6 billion impact for the state, according to an independent assessment released by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) on Tuesday. The report also credits the initiative's investments for creating 41,300 jobs within Ohio over the past five years.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E), housed at the U.S. Department of Energy, has released a Request for Information (RFI) to assist the development of its future funding opportunities and initiatives. Public and stakeholder ideas are needed in two categories:

Once again, SSTI's annual conference continues to be the most affordable professional development event of the year for the state, local, and university-based TBED community. Early registration discounts, which knock off $100 from the lowest prices already in the field, will expire Sept 29. Make the smart investment for your TBED program and your career by registering today. More information, including a registration form, is available at: http://www.ssticonference.org

Earlier this month, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved $750 million in financing over the next five years to Argentina's federal government for the country's Technology Innovation Program.

Argentina's R&D intensity as gauged by the ratio of R&D expenditures to GDP has increased in recent years, from 0.4 in 2003 to 0.51 in 2007. However, compared to a R&D intensity of 2.3 percent of GDP for OCED countries, Argentina lags considerably behind.

The United States Army has unveiled a new competition to foster the development of software and services that will be of use to the military. Apps for the Army would help speed the development process for Defense IT projects by providing an incentive for the military community to participate in creating innovative applications. Officials say that the program will help tap into the work already being done by military personnel to design software that is tailored to the demands of the battlefield.

President Obama has named Ron Bloom as the administration's senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Since, February, Bloom has been a senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and he sits on the president's automotive industry task force.

The national recession that began at the end of 2007 is "very likely over," according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Recovery, however, may be a long way off. Because states were affected differently by the economic downturn in both timing and impact, recovery for state and local economies is likely to occur at different times. Moody's Economy.com predicts, according to an MSNBC article, that job growth will return first in five states: Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

The Obama administration's interest in directing more federal support to innovation and research was evident very early in the President's first weeks in office with more than $100 billion of the Recovery Act funding going toward innovation, education and research infrastructure. Earlier this week, the National Economic Council and Office of Science & Technology Policy released a brief report presenting the guiding principles and priorities for the administration's innovation agenda.

Companies backed by venture capital grew their revenue and employment numbers at a much higher rate than other businesses in recent years, according to a report from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Between 2006 and 2008, revenue at U.S. venture-backed companies increased by 5.3 percent, while total U.S. business revenues grew by only 3.5 percent. Employment at venture-backed companies grew by 1.6 percent during that same period, compared to 0.2 percent in the overall U.S. private sector. Last year, venture-backed companies accounted for 11 percent of U.S.