from the death-by-committeee dept.
An article in the Philadelphia Business Journal ("Coalition aims to aid startups", by Peter Key, 29 March 2002) tells of yet another organization aimed at fostering economic development being established in Pennsylvania. According to the article, "five Philadelphia universities, a business incubator and an economic development organization have joined forces to boost the number of technology and life-science startups in the region. Called the Commercialization Working Group, its first task will be to help the Port of Technology incubator in University City bring technological innovations to market." One of the efforts to be supported is the Nanotechnology Institute, a venture among the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, a state-funded economic development organization. An official said the timing for the group is right because it comes after smaller efforts by the region's schools and tech organizations to work together, such as the Nanotechnology Institute.
Well, maybe. For all the organizational dithering over the past year or two, Pennsylvania hasnít yet got much real results to show from its nanotechnology programs (see Nanodot posts from 30 July and 17 December 2001, and 9 November 2000.
