The Legislature is beginning the second year of its two-year session. As this newsletter is written new bills are being drafted with a deadline for submission of February 19th. First year bills that have made it out of their house of origin by January 31st will continue into this coming Legislative cycle. Our next newsletter will provide a more complete list of bills to watch. One bill concerns CCST directly:

Innovation Study

AB 1420 (Perez) State government: Research

Existing law establishes various tasks to be performed by the California Council on Science and Technology and the California Spaceport Authority. This bill would request CCST and the California Spaceport Authority (CSA) to seek funding to complete their assessment of the state's innovation infrastructure capacity, and authorize these entities to seek the cooperation of colleges and universities within the state and other private entities to help advise regarding, and to help perform, the assessment. Language in the bill notes that:

(1) California's global competitiveness is dependent upon the state government taking a comprehensive and strategic approach to supporting innovationrelated industries, including, but not limited to, industries related to finance and investment, workforce development, research, and supply chain and distribution.

(2) California's innovation economy is threatened by the erosion of the science, technology, and education infrastructure that made the state great. The state has disinvested in its institutions of higher education. There is a continuing and accelerating globalization of industry and the innovation process. Also, over the last decade, significant changes have occurred in the way new technologies are created and commercialized, with new global research networks formed and enabled by technology, rather than geography.

(3) Based on the changing global innovation economy, there is a need to identify and assess the condition of California's "innovation infrastructure," to map the innovation resources, and to recommend actions that should be taken to rebuild the state's role as a leader in science and technology.

AB 1420 requests that CCST and the CSA seek funding to complete their ongoing assessment of the state's innovation infrastructure capacity. An initial, regional assessment was funded by a 2007 WIRED grant from the United States Department of Labor. The next phase should include additional geographic areas, undertake an analysis to expand the capability of this network, and produce an online searchable innovation map. Completion of the assessment will support the state's global competitiveness, encourage technology transfer, and increase the ability of the state to attract and expand research and manufacturing facilities.

The final assessment may include a directory of public and private innovation facilities and infrastructure in the state, a list of national and global alliances that contribute to the state's ability to be a an innovation leader, and a comparison of the state's current resources to those that would be necessary to remain globally competitive in the future.