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August 2, 2002

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CONTENTS

1) Upcoming Events

2) Current Releases

(HR Data, 10th Anniversary CD-ROM, Medical Innovation)

3) Upcoming Releases

(Solid State Lighting)

Click on links for more detailed information

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UPCOMING EVENTS

REVIEW OF THE PATENT OFFICE'S 21st

CENTURY STRATEGIC PLAN

August 27, 2002

National Academy of Sciences New Building

Lecture Room

500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC.

(Gallery Place/China Town Metro Access)

As part of its study of the patent system, the STEP Board's

Committee on Intellectual Property Rights will hold a

half-day public meeting on the recently announced

USPTO "21ST Century Strategic Plan." Confirmed speakers

include: Deputy Under Secretary/Director Jon Dudas; Ron Stern,

Patent Office Professionals' Association; Nancy Linck,

Guilford Pharmaceuticals; Gary Griswold, 3-M; Michael

Lynch, Micron; Ron Myrick, 3-M; Lita Nelsen, MIT;

and Chris Van Horn, Finnegan Henderson, LLP.

If you wish to attend the meeting, register online at

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/step/index.html

(Link in right column under "events" heading).

Copies of the agenda can be received by emailing

Steve Merrill: smerrill@nas.edu

There is no charge for this event.

SYMPOSIUM ON THE ROLE OF SCIENTIFIC

AND TECHNICAL DATA AND INFORMATION IN

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

September 5-6, 2002

National Academy of Sciences Auditorium

2100 C Street NW, Washington, DC.

The Board on International Scientific Organizations (BISO) is

organizing a symposium that will bring together leading experts and

managers from the public and private sectors who are involved

in the creation, dissemination, and use of STI to discuss: the role,

value, and limits of public-domain STI in the research and

education context; the various legal, economic, and technological

pressures on producers of public domain STI, and their potential

effects on research and education; the existing and proposed

approaches for preserving the public domain or providing

"open access" to STI in the United States; and other important

issues in this area that may benefit from further analysis.

The meeting will be free and open to the public, but advance

registration is required. For additional information and registration,

please visit the Symposium web site at:

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/biso/Public%20Domain%20Symposium%20Announcement.html

or contact the project director, Paul Uhlir, tel. (202) 334 2807;

e-mail: mailto:puhlir@nas.edu

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: PARTNERING

AGAINST TERRORISM

October 3, 2002

Confirmed speakers include:

Gordon Moore, Intel Corporation

Bill Spencer, International SEMATECH

Dale Jorgenson, Harvard University

Kathy Behrens, RS Investment Management and PCAST

Arden Bement, NIST

Invited speakers include:

John Marburger, OSTP

Senator Fritz Hollings

Contact Chris Hayter at chayter@nas.edu for more

information.

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CURRENT RELEASES

"Using Human Resources Data to Assess Innovation"

STEP conducted a workshop of economists, statisticians, industry

representatives, and policy analysts to consider how more systemtatic

exploitation of data on scientists, engineers and other professionals --

their training, mobility, and career paths, functions in corporations,

relationships across sectors, and productivity -- could improve

understanding of the innovation process. The report describes major

sources of HR data, examples of their use in research, and steps that

might be taken to improve the data and link the information in different

data sets. A background paper by Paula Stephan, Georgia State

University economist and expert on the science and engineering

workforce is included in the volume.

Contact cschultz@nas.edu for copies of this publication.

"STEP Board: The First 10 Years"

CD-Rom collection of ten years of reports from the Board on

Science, Technology and Economic Policy. The 23 reports in

the collection cover the STEP Board's work in the areas of

research, innovation, and industry performance,

government-industry partnerships for technology development ,

technology and trade, and human capital development. Copies

of many of the reports on the CD-ROM are available in hard copy.

Contact cschultz@nas.edu with requests

"Medical Innovation in the Changing Healthcare Marketplace"

Although health care is a significant cost for consumers, employers

and the government, the benefits of medical innovation over the

past 50 years have also been significant. This report summarizes

a June 2001 conference that examined this issue as well as ways that

public policy can promote the development and distribution of highly

cost effective medical technology. The report also examines the impact

of new technology on the treatment of cardiovascular disease and

metastatic melanoma.

Contact cschultz@nas.edu for copies of this publication.

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UPCOMING RELEASES

"Partnerships for Solid State Lighting"

This report summarizes the 26 March 2001 workshop which

gathered leading academic researchers, government officials

and policy makers, as well as representatives from large and

small firms to explore the potential contributions, technical

challenges and opportunities for government-industry-university

collaboration in the area of solid state lighting. Among the

related topics discussed were the national security and energy

efficiency implications of solid state lighting and the investments

in research and measurement required to bring this promising

technology forward to the marketplace.

Expected release date: September 2002

Contact chayter@nas.edu for information

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