In Technology Transfer in Southeast Wisconsin, a new report from the Public Policy Forum, researchers call for a "full-fledged collaborative infrastructure" that is adept at transferring technologies developed at the region's research institutions to entrepreneurs that will use them to create businesses and jobs in the region.

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:

Louisiana and Texas voters approved measures to provide funding sources for student loans while voters in Colorado rejected a measure that would have temporarily increased taxes to offset cuts for public schools and colleges. Meanwhile, Ohio voters repealed a bill passed earlier this year limiting collective-bargaining rights of state employees. Official results are outlined below:

Just three months after unveiling a statewide regional economic development plan, Gov. John Hickenlooper released a new version of the document that speeds up timelines and adds more specific measurable outcomes to the plan's 24 job creation strategies. The governor also submitted a budget proposal for FY13 that calls for additional funds to help the Economic Development Commission attract high-wage jobs and support initiatives that address distinct market barriers in the energy sector.

President Obama announced the Health Care Innovation Challenge — a $1 billion initiative to support the most compelling new ideas to deliver better health, improve care and lower costs to people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and/or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The objectives of this initiative are to:

Gov. Chris Gregoire outlined a series of proposals to boost Washington's competitiveness in the aerospace sector, including support for university research and funding to expand high school workforce curriculum and enroll more university students in engineering fields. By investing in education, research, and expanding tax incentives, Gov. Gregoire hopes Boeing will select the state to build and manufacture its 737 MAX, which the governor calls a once-in-a-generation opportunity expected to support up to 20,000 jobs.

This week (Nov. 14-20, 2011), more than 25,000 organizations in 123 countries will host events celebrating entrepreneurship and connecting entrepreneurs to potential mentors, inventors, collaborators and peers. Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) activities include Startup Weekends, in which groups come together to create a new business in three days, startup competitions and showcases, social entrepreneurship forums and venture capital summits.

To leverage the state's opportunities, Nevada needs to upgrade its diffuse economic development system to empower its regions more fully and set a statewide platform for new growth, finds a report commissioned by the state. Building on legislation passed earlier this year to reorganize and elevate the importance of the state's economic development activities, the report calls on the state to unify its operating system for 21st century economic development, support smart sector strategies in the regions, and set a platform for higher-value growth through innovation and global engagement.

The Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) released a new report that uses real-time labor market information data (web-based job advertisements) to analyze the U.S. manufacturing sector for the first half of 2011. Using Labor Insight, a web tool that aggregates data about web-advertised job openings, co-authors Lauren Gilchrist, Ken Poole and Mark White highlighted several important characteristics of anticipated manufacturing hiring:

Lawmakers and technology industry leaders in Georgia and Kentucky are hoping to establish capital programs during the 2012 legislative sessions in an effort to support new business creation and remain competitive with states already offering lucrative incentives.

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.

"Fast-growing economies in emerging markets are outpacing more developed countries with respect to investment in innovation," according to Encouraging and Protecting Innovation — a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). A PwC researcher compiled the report utilizing survey data collected from over 200 global executives who attended the annual meeting of The Wall Street Journal CEO Council. The report points out that Asia's emerging markets, mostly due to China, already invest more on R&D than the EU and Japan, respectively.

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

With increasing pressures from state and local policymakers to show a return on investment, universities and colleges across the country are stepping up their efforts to transform innovative ideas into ready-for-market products and develop a new generation of entrepreneurs that will spur regional and state economic growth.

On Thursday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration announced the winners of a six-month competition to secure funding for regional job creation projects. Over the summer, ten regional economic councils were created by executive order to develop plans that would improve local economies using grants, tax breaks and other state resources. The councils then pitched their plan to state government leaders (presentations and applications are available online).

The state of Washington's Governor Chris Gregoire announced the state will contribute $5 million to the W Fund, a new $25 million investment fund intended to spin more startups out of research labs at the University of Washington, Washington State University and other state research institutions. Administered by the Washington State Department of Commerce, key growth sectors targeted by the W Fund include biotech and clean tech. The fund intends to start considering investments in early 2012.

The European Union has implemented 30 of the 40 Innovation Union commitments according to State of the Innovation Union, a comprehensive progress report on the Innovation Union, the European Union's (EU) flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 growth strategy for the decade. By the end of 2011, the European Commission will have passed all six Innovation Union legislative proposals.

U.S. policy prescriptions for manufacturing are in disarray according to Make: an American Manufacturing Movement, a new report from the Council on Competitiveness. Policymakers, the report's authors contend, are bombarded with widely available reports and analysis that support one of three conflicting views (it is on steep decline, doing reasonably well or it is poised for growth) on the health and importance of U.S. manufacturing.

After its first year of work, India's National Innovation Council has released a report on development of a long-term innovation roadmap. The keystone of this strategy is a Rs 5000 crores ($968,615,000 U.S.) India Inclusive Innovation Fund to support small businesses, paired with an Industry Innovation Cluster Initiative. The report provides background on other Indian initiatives, such as the pilot University Innovation Cluster at the University of Delhi, the country's twenty Design Innovation Centres and the new State Innovation Councils.

To bring more tech-related companies and jobs to Wyoming, Gov. Matt Mead's budget request for the new biennium adds $15 million to broaden an existing fund established last year for the recruitment of mega data centers. If approved by the legislature, the state would make available $30 million for both large-scale recruitment and to attract smaller technology companies. Anticipating flat growth over the next two years, the budget for 2013-14 proposes a slight reduction in ongoing spending from last biennium.

The White House announced two initiatives intended to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and create jobs by increasing their access to capital and resources. The first initiative focuses on providing up to $1 billion in new capital to help early-stage small businesses. The other will attempt to provide entrepreneurs with free resources and services needed to help startups grow their businesses and create jobs. Read the press release...

Innovative companies involved in commercializing research with universities and federal agencies often cite complicated contracts and uncertainty surrounding the process as a barrier to bringing more technologies to the marketplace. In an effort to remove some of those hurdles, two new initiatives recently were announced from the University of Minnesota (UM) and the Department of Energy (DOE).

A new Office of Manufacturing Policy within the National Economic Council (NEC) will work across agency lines to coordinate the federal government's manufacturing programs and help develop manufacturing policy. On Monday, President Obama named Commerce Secretary John Bryson and NEC Chair Gene Sperling as co-chairs of the office, which will convene cabinet-level meetings on the administration's manufacturing initiatives.

To rebound from the global recession, the United Kingdom will focus on transforming their cities in to powerful, innovative 21st century cities according to a new economic growth plan from its coalition government. The government already has taken several steps towards making their cities "engines of growth" including:

West Virginia coal-mining and farming businessman James C. Justice II confirmed a $10 million donation to Cleveland Clinic Innovations this week, according to an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The gift will be used to establish a chair in medical innovation, to fund patent applications and to provide space and seed funding to early stage businesses. Inspired by the move, Cleveland Clinic Innovations Chairman Thomas Graham announced that he will contribute an additional $1 million for patent applications.