Key Stats

Connected Nation Inc. estimates that national broadband deployment programs in the U.S. would result in an economic stimulus of over $134 billion annually. This table illustrates the breakdown of where Connected Nation believes that money would come from.

Key Stats Archive

Charts/Tables

This chart from The Mercury News illustrates that Silicon Valley companies donated five times more money to President-elect Barack Obama than to his opponent Sen. John McCain:

Charts/Tables Archive

Net Headlines

It's a wild Web out there. Get a glimpse of it with these links from Newsvine (hit "refresh" if headlines don't appear right away):

OECD Report on Science, Tech and Industry

Every two years, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) publishes a report that evaulates the progress of national innovation strategies among its 30 member countries in areas like science and technology. The OECD Science, Technology and Industry (STI) Scoreboard for 2007 was released in late October, and includes a wealth of data about how countries are investing in research and development (R&D) and technological infrastructure.

• OECD countries' policy mix for fostering innovation is changing, from direct subsidies to tax incentives. In 2005, direct government funds financed an average of 7% of business R&D (down from 11% in 1995). At the same time, in 2006, 20 OECD countries offered tax relief for business R&D, up from 12 countries in 1995.
• Venture capital continues to be a major source of funding for new technology-based firms. In 2005, high tech firms attracted 40% of OECD venture capital investments. VC investment in high tech sectors was particularly strong in Ireland (96%), the United States (88%) and Canada (81%). 
• In order to stimulate technology transfer from universities to businesses, many OECD governments have encouraged universities to patent their inventions. Among OECD countries, Ireland has the highest proportion of patenting by universities with 9.7%; it's about 7% in the United States.
• Household and business use of broadband Internet access is growing rapidly in most parts of the OECD area. In 2006, Korea remained the country with the largest share of households with a broadband connection via a computer or mobile phone at 94%. In 25 OECD countries, more than 89% of businesses with ten or more employees have access to the Internet and over half have their own website.
• The United States has a comparative advantage in biotechnology and nanotechnology patenting. Meanwhile, the European Union is the world leader in patents covering environment-related technologies like solid waste, renewable energy and motor vehicle abatement. In both cases, Japan is second.
• Following a strong downturn in ICT trade from 2000 to 2001, trade in high-technology industries has since recovered. High-technology industries accounted for almost 65% of OECD manufacturing trade. 

For more information, visit OECD's scoreboard site. Published October 25, 2007.

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