 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
Pataki Encourages Tech Growth In State Speech
New York Gov. George Pataki, R, gave his State of the State address via webcast Wednesday and announced a series of initiatives to encourage high-tech growth. "We must recognize that an investment in the technical development of our workforce is a down payment on a brighter future," he said.
Pataki hailed recent high-tech developments in his state — such as IBM's $2.5 billion investment toward building the world's most advanced chip-processing plant in the East Fishkill area — as vital necessities to boost the economy and to provide jobs. The IBM investment is the largest private-sector investment in the state's history.
"Rapid changes in science and technology are creating industries we never would have dreamed of just a few years ago," he said. "Government, of course, is not the driving force behind these industries ... but government can, should and must create an atmosphere that allows these emerging new industries to flourish."
Pataki said the state's colleges "are better prepared than ever to help lead the way into the high-tech economy of the new century." He also said private companies are involved in cutting-edge high-tech areas such as biotechnology, computer miniaturization and fiber-optic technology.
Pataki will propose a $1 billion high-tech initiative to fund such research where businesses and universities collaborate. With an investment of $250 million over the next five years, Pataki plans to create research centers that will bring academia and the private sector together. The first three Centers of Excellence are beginning at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, SUNY at Albany and the University of Rochester Institute of Technology. Pataki proposed building similar centers in areas like Long Island and New York City. The plan for the centers would provide a job-creating bridge between the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research's (NYSTAR) new Strategically Targeted Academic Research (STAR) Center with New York's business community.
Pataki also called for an expansion of the state's DNA database to include all convicted criminals in an effort to fight crime. "Because DNA technology allows us to solve crimes committed 10, 20 or even 30 years ago, we must get rid of a law that protects the guilty," he said.
Other high-tech states also are gearing up for their State of the State addresses. California's will be Monday, New Jersey's on Tuesday, Washington and Virginia's on Wednesday, and Pennsylvania's on Feb. 12. State of the State addresses are tentatively scheduled in Massachusetts on Jan. 17, Maryland on Jan. 30, Michigan on Jan. 31 and Utah on Jan. 15 or 16.
Davis, Locke To Lead Democratic Governors
California Gov. Gray Davis, D, took the helm of the Democratic Governors' Association (DGA) Monday, leaving his position as vice chairman and replacing Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton, D. Washington state Gov. Gary Locke, D, will replace Davis as vice chairman.
Under Patton and Davis' direction, the DGA had pressured the Clinton administration and Congress to act on initiatives of interest to the technology community, such as renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in an effort to ensure that the economy and skilled workforce remained strong in the digital age. The DGA also called on Congress to join state efforts to eliminate the "digital divide" by helping all families get access to technology and the Internet.
At the National Governors' Association conference Feb. 24-27 in Washington, DC, Davis and Locke, the new DGA leaders, will outline their agenda for 2001. A DGA spokesman said a primary focus would be to help Democrats capture the two governors' seats opening this year in Virginia and New Jersey, and the 36 gubernatorial slots in 2002.
Tech-friendly Governors Take Their Oaths
Utah will swear in Gov. Mike Leavitt, R, for a third term Thursday afternoon.
Under Leavitt's oversight, Utah was among the first states in the country to pass a law to recognize the validity of electronic signatures. During his term, all state schools were linked to the Internet and the state's video and data networks — EdNET and UtahLINK — were created to deliver courses and Internet connections to Utah schools and colleges. Leavitt also received the support of his peers in the Western Governors' Association to develop the Western Governors' University — an institution that will deliver a wide variety of courses electronically to college students throughout the West.
On Tuesday, Montana swore in Judy Martz, the state's first female governor. She called for cooperation and spoke of balancing Montana's natural resources industries with the information age. "We will work with fervent and determined spirit to chart a new course that capitalizes on all of our abundant resources while simultaneously preparing ourselves and our young people to lead in this age of information," Martz said after she and other top state officials took the oaths.
And on Wednesday, Ruth Ann Minner, Delaware's former lieutenant governor, was sworn in as the First State's 72nd governor. She took office 13 days early, after Tom Carper resigned as governor to be sworn in as Delaware's junior U.S. senator. On Thursday, Minner created a task force to examine how Delaware manages its information and its information technology, including how to attact and retain qualified IT personnel.
AIM-ing For New Net Laws
Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) — the Bay State's largest business group — has proposed legislation that would amend state law to reflect "the manner in which the Internet is altering how business is conducted," reports the Bureau of National Affairs. Massachusetts' legislature began its 2001 session on Wednesday.
The AIM proposal recommends five changes to existing law, including treating corporations that make and sell digital products over the Internet as manufacturers, and revising sourcing rules for digital products and Internet services so they are sourced to where the product is used by the customer rather than to where the seller is based. The bill would amend sales-tax rules to specify that the provision of electronic services to customers by in-state companies does not make state customers responsible for state sales-tax filings.
The 5,000-member AIM also has been active in tech-related debates in Washington, DC. It opposed ergonomics standards mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and it participated in national coalitions to oppose "blacklisting" of prospective federal contractors when questions are raised about their compliance with various employment, environmental, tax, antitrust and consumer policies. AIM and its trade-oriented affiliate, the Alliance for the Commonwealth, also lobbied Massachusetts' congressmen to back permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China.
The Move Toward Election Reform
The National Association of Counties (NACo) will hold its first meeting of the National Commission on Election Standards and Reform next Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC. Created after the controversy in Florida over questionable voting techniques that decided the next president of the United States, the committee is part of a multi-pronged effort by counties' to address voting reform.
Sponsored by NACo and the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks (NACRC), the commission will examine the technical equipment used in elections, among other issues, and then propose possible solutions to improve elections. NACo's goal is to create a group that county election officials can approach to for information on various voting methods, including trial online voting techniques used in the 2000 presidential election in states like Arizona and California.
- by Liza Porteus
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
