Washington D.C. - According to the US Chamber of Commerce, "Hydraulic fracturing, when done correctly, is safe and saves Americans money. The science says so. EPA looked at scientific studies, government, NGO, and industry data and concluded that hydraulic fracturing has not had widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water."

Princeton, NJ - According to Emily Aronson of Princeton University, "The Princeton Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee (PEAC) has issued a report recommending a broad set of initiatives to enhance entrepreneurship at the University in a way that builds on Princeton's commitments to liberal arts education, research and public service."

New York, NY - U.S consumers are subject to a high degree of income volatility and have insufficient savings to overcome shortfalls in their budgets, according to the inaugural report of the JPMorgan Chase Institute. Because of the mismatch between income volatility and consumer spending habits, the authors suggest there is ample room for innovation in the market for companies that help consumers with medium-term financial decision making.

Pittsburgh, PA - According to Rich Lord, "High on the White House’s hit list: The series of letters, numbers and symbols you type in when you access everything from your bank account to your Netflix list."“Kill the password dead as a primary security measure,” urged Michael Daniel, the president’s cybersecurity coordinator, at the International Conference on Cyber Engagement, held recently at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. As more and more devices connect to the Internet, we need to develop new ways of confirming our identities, he said.

New Brunswick, NJ - According to Craig McCarthy, "Johnson & Johnson will be the first company to seek formal advice on providing experimental drugs to the desperately ill -- or "compassionate use"-- before they are approved, reports say. The New Jersey-based drug company appointed a bioethicist Thursday to create a panel, according to The New York Times, charged with making decisions for patient's request for the trial drugs."

Trenton, NJ - CBRE, one of the is the world's largest commercial real estate services firm, has put Edison and Newark on the Top 50 U.S. markets for their ability to attract and grow tech talent. The report places Edison at No. 16, making it the second-highest-ranked small market, defined as having a tech labor pool of less than 50,000. Newark is ranked No. 27 overall and sixth in small markets. CBRE found Edison has 48,810 such employees — a tech talent concentration that is nearly 50 percent greater than the U.S. average — while Newark has nearly 33,000.

Washington D.C. - The Council of State Governments (CSG) and Elsevier released recently “America’s Knowledge Economy: A State-by-State Review,” highlighting New Jersey’s total output from corporate researchers was the highest among all states in the country (33,504 publications). Evaluating New Jersey from 2004 to 2013, 20.8% of its research came from the private sector, more than twice the rate of the entire country.

Kansas City, MO - Jason Wiens and Chris Jackson of the Kauffman Foundation discuss intellectual property in a new Entrepreneurship Policy Digest released this week. The Kauffman Foundation contends that while intellectual property protections can increase productivity and firm valuations, they also can be inefficient and hinder innovation if they are too weak or too strong. 

According to the center’s director, Anthony P. Carnevale, “Our research also finds that key job growth has occurred in careers demanding high skilled workers in offices, hospitals and schools.  Manufacturing jobs and other blue-collar jobs are declining and college-educated workers now produce more than half of the nation’s annual economic value. In 1967, college graduates accounted for 13 percent of workers and more than 20 percent of wages, but now account for 34 percent of workers and 53 percent of wages."

This increase of wealth has shifted consumer demand from mass produced goods to mass customization of goods and services. American’s spend less on clothing and food:  food and clothing dropped 27 percent since 1947. This trend allows U.S. citizens more discretionary funds to spend.

For the complete report: https://cew.georgetown.edu/report/economygoestocollege/

“What intensifies the severity of this response is that, in the 2011 NASCIO workforce report, 78.6 percent answered yes [to the same question],” said Meredith Ward, senior policy analyst at NASCIO and author of the report.

The association previously released reports on IT workforce in 2007 and 2011. But in 2015, "human resources/talent management" made NASCIO’s “Top Ten” list of CIO priorities again for the first time in several years, causing the organization to re-examine the issue.

“We know that states face recruiting difficulties because of several issues and a big one can be public perception of state public service,” said Ward.

In fact, 86 percent of states are having difficulty recruiting new employees to fill vacant IT positions, according to the report, and 46 percent of states report that it is taking three to five months to fill senior level IT positions.

But states that innovate have a better chance of getting and keeping the IT talent they need, the report states.

“Consolidation and restructuring the IT organization has created tremendous opportunities to retain top talent,” according to the report.

“States have and will continue to be creative,” said Ward “One CIO described putting an emphasis on training, professional development and the career ladder, whether or not that career is with their department. They encourage professional development and have found many are seeking to grow and stay, not leave.”

For the full report: http://www.nascio.org/workforce/

Columbus, OH – Battelle and the Academy of Radiology Research produced a new report that showed how federal R&D funding succeeds in producing patents. The report examines essentially all federal R&D and finds that, per patent, public-sector agencies provide a return comparable to private-sector ones. The Academy and Battelle among other things raise the profile of imaging research through education and advocacy.