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The States As Tech Innovators
by Liza Porteus
State policymakers are realizing the importance of science and technology, two tech policymakers said at a recent State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) conference in Pittsburgh.
"If innovation and new technologies profoundly shaped the 20th century, they will define the 21st," said Bruce Mehlman, the Commerce Department's assistant secretary for technology policy. "And if America hopes to continue as the world's foremost technology champion, we will need to redouble our efforts to support and extend our technological excellence."
Mehlman said industry leaders are setting examples, particularly in their post-Sept. 11 efforts to recover and rebuild what was lost in the terrorists' destruction. He added that technology growth is key to state and local prosperity and has the ability to improve quality.
Mehlman said that among the Bush administration's top priorities -- terrorism, the economy, trade and education -- the common theme is using technology to improve the world. "But regional economies are the building block of U.S. competitiveness. ... Decisions made at the local level play a critical role in establishing the environment."
States and localities can look to models such as those in Silicon Valley and North Carolina's Research Triangle to identify the best practices, said Dick Thornburgh, a former Pennsylvania governor and chairman of SSTI.
"No master plan or industrial policy directed out of Washington, D.C., can effectively stimulate these new opportunities for economic growth and future-oriented jobs," Thornburgh said. "The important role that science and technology plays in the new economy ... has become clear. ... There are numerous creative approaches being tried at the state and local level."
But he said policymakers must overcome several challenges, including: expanding the benefits of the new economy beyond metropolitan areas; broadening investment in tech-based economic development outside the Northeast and Great Lakes states; setting realistic expectations for investment returns on higher education; increasing accountability for science and tech fund recipients; and achieving full federal participation in research and development.
"It is in this nation's best interest that this support be sustained and expanded, where necessary, to deal with new opportunities and unmet needs," Thornburgh said.
Cities Set On The Web
At a National League of Cities (NLC) conference in Atlanta last week, officials said the organization continued to implement a comprehensive technology agenda this year by helping small cities establish an Internet presence through a partnership with IBM and state municipal leagues. NLC also unveiled a Web portal to improve online connections and resources for city officials and the public.
More than 50 small communities tested an e-government tool provided by IBM and NLC, and many localities have launched new sites. NLC also joined with the National Association of Counties and the U.S. Conference of Mayors to sponsor the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance, which provides local governments with bid contracts for commodities.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, NLC and city officials assessed the impact and created a special section of the NLC Web site to share information. The "Local Officials Guide to Domestic Terrorism" -- published in 1997, after the Oklahoma City bombing -- was downloaded more than 3,000 times from the NLC Web site in the six weeks after Sept. 11 and reprinted for distribution at state summits on homeland security.
The NLC Strategic Plan also has been updated to reflect homeland security as a priority for 2002.
Also at the conference, outgoing NLC President Dennis Archer called on President Bush and Congress to recognize the frontline role of cities in homeland security and to provide cities with the adequate resources.
California Awards Scanning Contracts
The California Justice Department this week announced that it has awarded a contract to Indentix to provide 11 scanning and fingerprinting systems throughout the state. Thirteen more systems also will be used for law enforcement agencies or probation agencies to help in fingerprinting of adult and juvenile offenders.
The company also said that a major U.S.-based bank bought two of the scanning systems in order to rapidly process background checks on temporary employees. The total value of both contracts is approximately $500,000.
News From The Digital Dominion
Virginia Gov. James Gilmore on Wednesday appointed Robert Layman to the Wireless E-911 Services Board.
The board promotes and assists in the statewide deployment and maintenance of "enhanced 911" technology that enables officials to pinpoint the location of 911 calls from mobile phones. Layman is the E911 coordinator of NTELOS Corp. in Waynesboro, Va., and is responsible for developing and maintaining databases for both wireless and landline E911 systems.
On the legislative front, Gilmore signed the following tech-related bills into law this year:
- H.B. 1611, which mandates that telecommunications carriers begin answering E911 calls no later than July 1, 2002. The measure makes 911 the designated number for making wireless emergency calls in Virginia.
- S.B. 1349, which exempts buyers of commercial, mobile radio services from a tax that localities with E911 service may assess on telephone customers.
- H.B. 1902, which eliminates the requirement that the State Corporation Commission conduct a hearing on every application to provide local telephone services.
- H.B. 1713, which calls on the Secretary of Administration to oversee state agencies' telecommuting policies.
- H.B. 2387, which alters the definitions of licenses and goods, and makes other amendments to the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act and the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
- S.B. 1017, which amends the state Consumer Protection Act to cover electronic licenses.
- H.B. 2411, which resolves a technical conflict in the state code that calls for different practices of electronic court filing under the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. UETA authorizes the use of e-signatures.
- S.B. 1019, which directs Virginia's attorney general and technology secretary to develop guidelines for state agencies on implementing electronic transactions.
- H.B. 2043, which requires the Virginia Supreme Court to restrict remote electronic access to court records.
- S.B. 1322, which clarifies that any electronic communication generated by contacts with members of the public is still considered a "public record" under the Freedom of Information Act.
- H.B. 197, which makes it a felony to send electronic threats.
- S.B. 1057, which allows educational technology funds to be used for career and technical education, as well as academic programs, and which mandates that a six-year technology plan must integrate certain standards into educational technology plans.
- S.B. 1109, which creates grant programs for manufacturers of semiconductor memory or "logic wafers."
- H.B. 2743, which creates the Virginia Research and Technology Advisory Commission to advise the governor on research and technology strategies. The panel also must advise the Commonwealth Technology Research Fund on disbursements of money.
- H.B. 2168, which requires the president of the Center for Innovative Technology to report annually to the Joint Commission on Technology and Science.
- S.B. 1245, which authorizes the Department of Technology Planning to help develop geographic data and statewide base-map data.
- S.B. 1394, which raises the penalty for computer-based invasion of privacy to a misdemeanor. The law covers the unauthorized examination of someone else's employment, salary, credit or other financial or personal information.
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