Governor Patrick unveils plan for $25 million Broadband Incentive Fund, targeting 31 unserved communities in Western Massachusetts

If plan wins approval of Legislature, investments will be made to spur technology-neutral, public-private partnerships to bring affordable access to high-speed Internet

BECKET –  It was a tableau that Norman Rockwell—the great American artist who often portrayed quintessential scenes of small-town life—would have been proud to paint, perhaps naming it in his whimsical fashion: “Promises finally kept by government to the people.”

On a blazing hot summer morning in early August in the Berkshires, two rows of government officials, state legislators, and local community leaders announced plans to create a $25 million Massachusetts Broadband Incentive Fund. The fund would be used to finance the broadband infrastructure needed to bring affordable, high-speed internet services to residents of unserved communities in the Commonwealth.

Under the plan, this new public purpose fund would be housed at the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, operating as a new division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

The Governor filed legislation on October 18 entitled “An Act Establishing and Funding the Massachusetts Broadband Institute,” with the objective of providing high-speed Internet services to all currently unserved communities in the Commonwealth by 2010.

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Innovation Institute Investments

Precision Machining Gets A Boost

SPRINGFIELD -- A new internship program to boost the region’s pool of qualified machinists and engineers has been developed between Springfield Technical Community College, the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, and local precision machining firms. The program is a successful outgrowth of a $150,000 Regional Priority Award made by the Innovation Institute in March 2006 to help build a sustainable pipeline of qualified workers to strengthen the precision machining industry in the Pioneer Valley.

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LOWELL – The Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, known as M2D2, was awarded an investment of $498,111 in October 2007 to expand its pilot program for prototyping and business assistance that addresses the “valley of death” within the medical device industry cluster.

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Our Interview with Andrei

From theoretical physicist to quantitative biologist to research provost, Andrei Ruckenstein has been on the front lines of scientific inquiry

BOSTON --  When Andrei Ruckenstein, the former co-director of the BioMaPs Institute for Quantitative Biology at Rutgers University made the decision to become the Vice President of Research at Boston University in June 2007, it was a conscious choice. Ruckenstein thought that while he was eager to continue his own research, “I might have an even bigger impact helping others get their work done,” he said.

Ruckenstein is now part of an informal group of research leaders from public and private universities in Massachusetts who are meeting on a regular basis, convened by the John Adams Innovation Institute, to discuss potential ways in which they can build a collaborative framework to address common issues.

Convergence: Why did you choose to come to Boston University?

Ruckenstein: Boston University is a very unusual place, with great potential, fabulous people, a good sense of community. Everyone is committed to moving the school to the next level.

I love the city. I went to school in Boston (at Harvard). It’s the most European city in the United States (Ruckenstein is originally from Romania).

Convergence: What has been the focus of your work in the last few years?

Ruckenstein: During the past few years, I have been concentrating on understanding the details of single gene transcription, the process by which the genetic information in DNA is copied into RNA. It is during this transcription process that many crucial decisions about the fate of cells are decided. My work, done in collaboration with the group of a talented molecular biologist at the NYU Medical School, including Evgeny Nudler, has focused on identifying the components of the molecular motor carrying our transcription process that are most easily interfered with. Understanding such details can enable the design of drugs that act by directly affecting the transcription machinery.

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Innovation Institute’s Governing Board wrestles with approaches, policies, solutions to “Gateway” cities

CAMBRIDGE – On June 11, the Innovation Institute’s Governing Board meeting became a “think tank” for the afternoon, delving into a high-level discussion of economic development policies to help “Gateway Cities”—urban centers outside Boston that have not shared in the growth of the Massachusetts knowledge economy.

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A call to action for a new urban agenda

Business and university leaders join with Congressmen and local politicians
to discuss new economic strategies to revitalize New Bedford and Fall River

“This has got to be more than a therapy session; it needs to be a call to action with concrete steps.”

— Congressman
Jim McGovern

FALL RIVER – An overflow crowd of more than 300 people gathered on September 24 at the Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center to discuss “the renewal of Southcoast Gateway Cities.” The session was developed in response to the report, “Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway Cities: Lessons Learned and an Agenda for Renewal”, prepared by MassINC.

The report, supported by a $50,000 Regional Priority Award by the John Adams Innovation Institute Fund, is available on line at www.massinc.org. The report was part of a featured discussion on urban economic policies and strategies in June 2007 at the Innovation Institute’s Governing Board meeting. See story, left.

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©2007 Massachusetts Technology Collaborative