The State Science and Technology Institute is a source of white papers and resources for background material about technology transfer. I’m about mid-way through their Resource Guide for Technology-based Economic Development. They also have a searchable database for whitepapers and guides. You can search by keyword and country or state.

The Small Business Innovation and Research program (SBIR) has been effective for Microdesign as well as our state’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program. Together these two programs provide funding in “phases”:

Phase 0 – EPSCoR – $10,000
Phase I – SBIR – $100,000
Phase II – SBIR – $750,000

Each phase depends on help from the previous phase, and the assumption is that each combination of phases 0-3 consists of a single technology product or service, probably funded by a single federal agency.

Much of the SSTI discussion is about synergies between research universities, a skilled workforce, availability of venture capital, and an attractive working environment. Think Silicon Valley, Boston’s Route 128 and the Research Triangle of Raleigh-Durham. Can this be replicated on a smaller scale in other places? Think Burlington Vermont, Portland, Maine, and Albany New York.