Speaker
Sheldon Silver

Legislative Commission on Science and Technology Legislative Update

Legislative Update
Chairwoman
Francine DelMonte

May 3, 2010

New York State
Assembly

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Top News

Rural Venture Investments As Successful As Metro Counterparts.   A recent report published through the Ford Foundation's Wealth Creation in Rural Communities project finds that venture capital funds that invest in rural and low-income regions can be as successful as those in tech-oriented metropolitan regions if they are large enough to attract high-quality deals and provide follow-on funding. In addition to direct financial returns, such funds can have a positive impact on rural economic development. Lack of capital often results in growing companies, including high-growth gazelle firms, in rural areas seeking more active venture markets and local venture capital funds can serve as a local lead on deals, attracting out-of-state dollars with out driving away promising companies.

Source:  ssti.org

IT Lost 245,000 Jobs In 2009  The recession continued to take its toll among high-tech workers in 2009, according to a report from the TechAmerica Foundation. A total of 245,000 high-tech jobs were lost last year, the organization said in its 13th annual Cyberstates report. The biggest losses were in manufacturing, while software services gained positions. The biggest losses -- 112,600 in all -- were recorded in the manufacturing sector in areas like electronic components and semiconductors.

Source:  informationweek.com

Department of Energy Announces $200 Million for Solar and Wind Power    U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu has announced that the Obama Administration will invest $200 million over the next five years to expand and accelerate the development, commercialization, and use of solar and water power technologies across the U.S.. The funding includes up to $125 million for s photovoltaic manufacturing initiative, $40 million for photovoltaic supply chain development, $4.5 million for a new national administrator for the solar instructor training network and $39 million for marine and hydrokinetic technologies.

Source:  ssti.org

Innovation a Political Winner   TechNet has released a survey of U.S. voters that shows strong support for innovation, but 78% say nation's schools fail to prepare kids for jobs of tomorrow and 58% believe a foreign country will drive the most innovation in the coming decade.

Source:  ssti.org

Innovation and Product Development in the 21st Century   The MEP Advisory Board released a report that looks at the "realities of the manufacturing industry, identifies responses of successful firms to the dynamic technological and economic changes in front of them, and suggests opportunities for action..."

Source:  ssti.org