Indiana University is launching a $10 million venture capital fund to invest in technology companies coming out of the university. Half of the fund will be dedicated to seed- and early-stage companies, while the other $5 million will support later-stage firms. Last month the university dedicated a new $10 million Innovation Center, which will work with the fund to support university-affiliated companies.  Read more at: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/12745.html

Indiana University is launching a $10 million venture capital fund to invest in technology companies coming out of the university. Half of the fund will be dedicated to seed- and early-stage companies, while the other $5 million will support later-stage firms. Last month the university dedicated a new $10 million Innovation Center, which will work with the fund to support university-affiliated companies.  Read more at: http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/12745.html

The recent creation of the Energy Alliance of Southwestern Pennsylvania is intended to advance the energy-related economy of the Pittsburgh region by funding companies, coordinating projects, devising policies, and marketing the region's assets. While staff for the Energy Alliance will come primarily from the Allegheny Conference and Innovation Works, other partners of the effort include the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, and various energy-related firms in the region.

Shortly after President Obama announced that the federal government would seek out new partnerships with private companies to improve science and technology education in the U.S., the Arizona Technology Council unveiled three new offerings for Arizona students. The group will collaborate with tech companies and nonprofits to hold a statewide science fair, to develop a four-year engineering curriculum for high school students and to create an online directory of STEM opportunities.

In FY2007, the states in aggregate expended $1.23 billion in funds for research and development, according to recent data released by the National Science Foundation. This is the second year consecutive annual data from the NSF's State Agency Research and Development Expenditures series has been produced. SSTI has prepared a table that shows for both FY07 and FY06 each state's expenditures for R&D from the state government, the state's GDP, and the spending intensity as measured by R&D expenditures per million dollars of GDP.

A bill being debated in Congress would provide federal support for the development of research parks, a major contributor to scientific discovery, technology commercialization and new company formation. S. 583, entitled the Building A Stronger America Act and introduced earlier this year, would make available grants and loan guarantees for the development and construction of science parks to promote the clustering of innovation through high technology activities.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, DC think tank, is accepting applications for two positions described below:

• Communications Director: This is a permanent, full-time position reporting to the president of ITIF. It is an exciting opportunity for someone who would like to not only deepen their policy expertise, but also influence the public debate on critical innovation policy issues. Read more…

Robert Fritzinger has been named the director of the new SUNY Fredonia Business Technology Incubator.

Ioanna Morfessis, a consultant from Phoenix, was unanimously appointed as the executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation by the board of directors. Morfessis is expected to start work in January, and will serve as acting director until the Senate confirms her appointment.

President Barack Obama recently launched Educate to Innovate, a campaign to partner with nonprofits and private companies to encourage K-12 students to pursue careers in science and technology. Initial partners include the MacArthur Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Time Warner Cable, Xerox, Kodak and Discovery Communications. The campaign will focus on involving students in STEM education opportunities outside of school.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine announced the creation of The Ignite Institute, a nonprofit medical research institute to be housed initially at the Center for Innovative Technology. The state will provide $3 million from the Governor's Opportunity Fund and $22 million in incentive grants, subject to General Assembly approval. The institute expects to draw $200 million in initial financing and create 415 jobs. Read more at: http://www.ignitehealth.org/.

To foster strategic investments and policies in the knowledge and innovation economy, Gov. Bev Perdue recently signed an executive order establishing the North Carolina Innovation Council. The council is responsible for advising the governor on public and private investments and polices to promote innovation, move innovative ideas from the lab to the marketplace more efficiently, and strengthen collaboration among business, academia, and local government.

Entrepreneurial activity in the U.S. increased from 9.6 percent in 2007 to 10.8 percent in 2008, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2008 U.S. Entrepreneurial Assessment. Though the report found that fear of failure was on the rise among potential entrepreneurs, survey respondents indicated that they still believe there were ample opportunities for new businesses. Read the full report at: http://www.gemconsortium.org/article.aspx?id=131

Governors across the nation are trying to find ways to prevent their state finances from falling further in the red as revenues continue to fall while costs for Medicare and unemployment remain high. Deficit-reduction plans announced in two states seek to delay payments and cut funding to biomedical research initiatives that were established to expand the states’ research capacity and generate wealth.

Connecticut

Calling for shared sacrifice among all state agencies, Gov. Haley Barbour outlined his FY11 budget recommendations reducing most agencies by 12 percent below the FY10 appropriation, excluding the Mississippi Development Authority, which would be cut only 5 percent because of its role in job creation. Tech-based economic development programs funded by the Authority are zeroed out in the governor’s proposal, however.

The current downswing in the economy is impacting appropriation levels to public institutes of higher education, requiring universities and colleges to pursue both short-term and long-term solutions to improve their revenues. In a recent survey to its membership, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) found 85 percent of schools experienced a reduction this year in state appropriations compared to the previous year. For almost half of responding public universities, the cut exceeded 10 percent.

The United Nation’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva recently announced an expansion of its online free searchable patent application database. In addition to containing an existing 1.65 million international patents filed for protection under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) from 30 countries, the database now includes digital information for 1.49 million additional records from the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Israel, South Africa, Singapore, Vietnam, the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), and Cuba.

NorTech, the Northeast Ohio Technology Coalition, seeks applications for a Vice President. Reporting to the president and CEO, and serving as an integral member of the senior management team, the VP will be responsible for the development of several NorTech initiatives including technology commercialization, flexible electronics cluster building, and support on government engagement.

TBED People
Eric Abelquist has been named executive vice president of Oak Ridge Associated Universities and deputy director of the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

Arn Boezaart, who has been interim executive director of the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center the past six months, will take over the position permanently.

This issue of the Digest unveils a new format and look for the Digest. Shorter but containing more material at the same time, we think this new format will permit you to get the most important news of the week for the TBED community in a format that works best for you. We consider literally hundreds of items each week for the Digest, so we’re particularly excited to introduce the Staff Picks section that will provide you with links to stories, videos, blog posts, etc. that we think you should be aware of.

The Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently announced that they are restructuring the funding process for the broadband programs introduced in the Recovery Act earlier this year.

To attract additional federal funds and boost job creation, Michigan legislators passed a bill authorizing the state to spend another $30 million on a program to create alternative energy clusters and support technology commercialization.

A recent survey found 78 percent of Americans believe innovation will be more important to the U.S. economy in the next thirty years than the previous thirty years. While the importance of innovation is recognized, 81 percent of Americans believe the quality of K-12 math and science education lags behind other countries. The survey of 1,200 U.S. respondents, commissioned by the Intel Corporation and Newsweek magazine, found that 33 percent of Americans said the U.S.

Gov. Donald Carcieri signed legislation last week expanding the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (EDC) board and allowing the state to offer the incoming EDC director a three-year contract that extends past the governor’s term, which ends next January. The changes are expected to boost the agency’s effectiveness and attract better candidates for the state’s top economic development position.

Underrepresented minorities were awarded 79,097 bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering related fields in 2006, an 18 percent increase from 2002, according to data released this month by the National Science Foundation. In 2006, 14,099 S&E master’s degrees and 1,661 S&E doctoral degrees were awarded to underrepresented minorities, a 32 percent and 12 percent increase, respectively, compared to five years earlier.

Since the 1990s, Maine has done an excellent job investing in R&D to establish a robust research capacity, but little has been done in terms of building a capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship, according to the 2010 Science and Technology Action Plan. The report identifies three main strategies to position the state as a global competitor and create high-paying jobs and economic prosperity.