New Skilled Trades Dashboard highlights mismatches across states

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Innovation and skilled trades haven’t always been linked in TBED policy discussions, but AI and other technological advances have united the two in many areas. The Alliance for America's Skilled Trades, comprised of many large U.S. corporations, has developed a new dashboard to help policymakers understand where the demand and supply of workers and training do not match. Most importantly, the dashboard also scores which specific trades are seeing the most or least pressure. The dashboard illuminates that the mismatch isn’t limited to the fastest growing states.

Does national VC data still matter for regional innovation efforts?

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

The quick answer is "not really."  

The quick answer is "not really."  The latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, which presents venture capital activity, revealed the industry invested $98.4 billion during the third quarter of 2026. But as SSTI’s past analyses have shown—and the most recent quarter’s data further confirms—the national VC market is overwhelmingly dominated by one technological phenomenon, artificial intelligence, and by the mega funds managing more than $500 million.

OSTP plan calls for overhauling US approach to R&D, innovation

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

The White House report from  Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Michael Kratsios, Science: A New Golden Age, first announced in a July 22 Wall Street Journal article, iterates federal R&D policies and practices for FY 2028, outlines an almost industrial policy approach to federal investment, and provides a plan to move federal research programs toward a focus on individual scientists rather than university-based programs. It calls for more flexible, multidisciplinary, and multi-organizational, team-oriented research projects rather than centers housed within the nation’s research institutions.

Universities as architects of regional innovation ecosystems

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Ask most university leaders how their institution contributes to the regional economy and the answer is likely to include research expenditures, patents, startups, and jobs. Those measures remain important, but they overlook one of the university's most valuable contributions. In today’s economy, where innovation, talent, and technology shape how regions grow, universities are helping communities adapt, connect, and compete. 

Ask most university leaders how their institution contributes to the regional economy and the answer is likely to include research expenditures, patents, startups, and jobs. Those measures remain important, but they overlook one of the university's most valuable contributions. In today’s economy, where innovation, talent, and technology shape how regions grow, universities are helping communities adapt, connect, and compete.

Recent Research: Are new ideas really getting harder to find?

Thursday, June 4, 2026
A new working paper from researchers affiliated with the U.S. Census Bureau and several universities revisits one of the biggest questions in innovation policy: why has productivity growth slowed even as research and development spending continues to rise? For the technology-based economic development (TBED) community, the answer matters because it shapes how states, regions, and federal agencies think about innovation investments.

Connecting companies to research assets faster: the Tennessee Innovation Exchange model

Thursday, May 21, 2026

The Tennessee Innovation Exchange (TNIX) is a statewide initiative designed to make it easier for companies, entrepreneurs, and investors to connect with university research expertise across Tennessee. In this recent TBED Community of Practice webinar, speakers Chuck Layne of LaunchTN and Tom Kissane of Halo Sciences explained how they partnered with six research universities to build a shared digital platform that supports university-industry collaboration and commercialization. 

The Tennessee Innovation Exchange (TNIX) is a statewide initiative designed to make it easier for companies, entrepreneurs, and investors to connect with university research expertise across Tennessee. In this recent TBED Community of Practice webinar, speakers Chuck Layne of LaunchTN and Tom Kissane of Halo Sciences explained how they partnered with six research universities to build a shared digital platform that supports university-industry collaboration and commercialization.

Recent Research: What two new studies tell us about innovation networks

Thursday, May 21, 2026

Two recent research papers approach entrepreneurship and innovation from very different perspectives but arrive at a similar conclusion about how regional economies grow and change over time. Keeping technology-based economic development (TBED) initiatives proactively thinking about and addressing that evolution is a central aspect of all SSTI TBED-focused programming. Empirical research, like is discussed below, provides external evidence of how needs are changing and programs may want to adapt. 

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