Get insights on technology, the economy and politics through "Inside Wisconsin," a weekly column by Tech Council President Tom Still. Tom is the former associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, where he was editor of the Opinion pages and responsible for other management duties.

“On balance, changed federal research grant program will help Wisconsin”
May 5, 2008
MADISON – Unless you’re a scientific researcher, an economic development professional or someone who enjoys poring over federal data, chances are good you’ve never heard of Small Business Innovation Research grants. If you’re someone who cares about whether Wisconsin is getting a fair shake in Washington, D.C., however, you might want to learn the ABCs of SBIRs.

“In a state known for its biotech, the computer guys are finally getting some respect”
April 29, 2008
MADISON – If you “Google” the office addresses for Google, the world’s largest search engine, a listing for Madison, Wis., might soon pop up on your computer screen.

For the second time in a week, a major information technology company has planted a flag in Wisconsin, a state reputed for being a biotech preserve. It was formally announced April 23 that Microsoft had set up an advanced development lab in Madison. On Monday, word finally got out that Google has set up an engineering office, also in downtown Madison.

“Food versus fuel and other fallacies about biofuels”
April 22, 2008
STEVENS POINT – The official bogeyman of Earth Week 2008 is biofuels. A top United Nations official has called use of food crops to produce ethanol “a crime against humanity,” environmentalists are blaming ethanol production for destruction of rain forests, and food riots from Haiti to Egypt are being cited as examples of what happens to prices when land is used to grow fuel instead of food.

“Tougher economic times may actually spur angel and venture investments”
April 18, 2008
MADISON – One might think the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis would crash down equally on all investment markets, given the size of the problem working its way through the economy’s digestive system.

“Elements of strong regional economies are more similar than different”
April 13, 2008
LA CROSSE – What makes for a strong regional economy? That question stood at the center of a recent economic indicators breakfast that drew 190 people from the three-state “7 Rivers Region” anchored by La Crosse and Winona, Minn. The answers could be instructive for Wisconsin’s other economic development regions.

“The everyman lobbyist: Jim Maurer defied stereotype with commitment to service”
April 4, 2008
LAKE MILLS – To some, he’s Lt. Jim Maurer of the Lake Mills Volunteer Fire Department, the guy who’s quick to respond to a late-night fire. To others, he’s Jefferson County Board Sup. Jim Maurer, the fellow who represents the 13th District in Lake Mills. Or he’s Jim Maurer the fisherman who can occasionally be spotted on Rock Lake. Or sometimes he’s Jim Maurer the local handyman, helping neighbors fix what’s broken. Heck, to some, he’s even Jim Maurer the beekeeper.

And until he retired March 31, he was also James G. Maurer the telecom executive and lobbyist.

“Global energy demand is helping dictate future of biofuels”
March 31, 2008
MADISON – When Wisconsin-based economist David Ward thinks about the future of biofuels, his mind puts him behind the wheel of a brand-new Tata.

If you live in India, or follow the auto-show circuit, you might know that the Tata is a car…a really small car. Tata Motors “Nano” model is about 10 feet long, runs on a two-cylinder gasoline engine and costs about $2,500. It is designed to appeal to India’s growing middle class, for whom automobile ownership was out of the question even a decade ago.

“Three reasons why independent political ads won’t (and shouldn’t) go away”
March 30, 2008
MADISON – Before Friday night’s live debate between Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Louis Butler and Mike Gableman, I had the privilege of prepping the citizen questioners who quizzed them. I was struck by how many of the “We the People/Wisconsin” questioners said they had soured on this particular election, or who claimed their friends and neighbors had been turned off by the negative advertising surrounding the race.

“It’s no cult: Wisconsin at the center of stem-cell research world”
March 16, 2008
MADISON – Bernie Siegel was a Miami lawyer in 2002 when a cult-like organization known as the Raellians claimed to have cloned a human baby. Siegel filed a motion in a Broward County on behalf of the “baby,” suspecting all along it didn’t exist, and helped to expose a dangerous hoax. He soon founded the Genetics Policy Institute and became a global advocate for stem-cell research based on science versus science fiction.

“Economic development debate reveals split in Legislature’s houses”
March 16, 2008
MADISON – With most of the Legislature’s attention focused on efforts to patch a hole in the state budget, set statewide smoking rules and pass a Great Lakes Water Compact, perhaps it’s not surprising that work on the state’s economic development agenda would be set aside.

That doesn’t make it any less disappointing, however.

“If climate change is the issue, environmentalists should rethink nuclear power”
March 4, 2008
MADISON – The Legislature will probably miss yet another chance to repeal the state’s antiquated moratorium on building emissions-free nuclear power plants in Wisconsin, even though most of the lawmakers who will vote to keep the 25-year-old ban profess to fear the long-term effects of global climate change.

“Pinstripes amid the ivy: Could a business leader run UW-Madison?”
February 25, 2008
MADISON – At the University of Colorado in Boulder, which is akin to UW-Madison with a mountain view, many faculty and students are aghast over the state Board of Regents’ selection this month of a businessman with no academic credentials as the president of the three-campus university system.

“On science and technology, candidates reveal differences – and similarities”
February 18, 2008
MADISON – As the presidential circus makes ready to move on to another town, Wisconsin primary voters may wonder if they’ve learned all that much about where the major candidates stand on the issues.

On science and technology, at least, there are some fundamental differences – as well as some striking similarities.

“How Wisconsin’s historic ‘open’ primary was temporarily closed”
February 11, 2008
MADISON – Let’s say you’ve never been a Democrat but you think Barack Obama is a prophet of change. Or you’re an apolitical soccer mom who feels moved to vote for Hillary Clinton, just because it’s time. Or you’re a political independent who noticed that some cultural conservatives can’t stand Republican John McCain, which is reason enough for you to vote for him.

“Fifteen years of We the People/Wisconsin has involved citizens”
February 5, 2008
MADISON -- The story of We the People/Wisconsin has always revolved around the people.

From the first televised town hall meeting on March 27, 1992, citizens have stood at the center of the journalism produced by the news media partners that make up the We the People/Wisconsin project.

“Information technology brings benefits, and tests, to society”
January 15, 2008
MADISON – The inexorable march of information technology continues to revolutionize our global economy, just as it continues to create new challenges close to home.

“From also-ran to excellence: Can Wisconsin make the economic grade?”
January 7, 2008

MADISON – Wisconsin’s economy is like the underachieving student who should be earning top grades, but who seems content to bring home a report card filled with Cs.

In one national survey after another, Wisconsin ranks in the lower half of the 50-state class when it comes to economic dynamism. Sure, there are flashes of brilliance – high marks for academic research and development, patents, exports and worker education – but Wisconsin’s overall ranking in economic performance is typically nothing to brag about.

MADISON – For most people in Wisconsin, the physical symbol of Lee Sherman Dreyfus was his omnipresent red vest. For me, it was “the bullpen” in the governor’s office.

I was a 25-year-old reporter when Dreyfus was sworn into office as governor in January 1979 and already accustomed to public officials who would hide behind process, delay releasing records and dodge legitimate questions with a terse “no comment.”

MADISON – Ring… ring… ring.

“Hello, Tommy? It’s Jim Doyle. I know it’s been a while since we chatted, but I need your advice on something.”

“I was beginning to think you lost my number. My advice? When I was governor and you were A.G., you gave me a lot of advice – whether I wanted it or not. So, what’s up?”