BILL NUMBER:S3736              REVISED 04/19/11

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the economic development law, in relation to establishing the
academic research information access act

PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
ARIA leverages New York State's public and private higher education
sector - the largest and most diverse in the nation - to implement an
information infrastructure for research, scholarship, and innovation
in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.
When implemented, ARIA will lower costs for higher education and small
business, expand access to cutting-edge research, and support
economically beneficial innovation and entrepreneurialism.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

§ 1- Legislative findings. The New York State Commission on Higher
Education concluded in their June 2008 Final Report of Findings and
Recommendations that New York State is rapidly losing ground in the
global competition for preeminence in the knowledge-based economy of
the twenty-first century. Among its recommendations, the Commission
argued that two "infrastructure investments are particularly critical
to participation in the knowledge economy: technology and academic
libraries."
              

To create the needed infrastructure the Commission sought the
"academic library pooling of electronic information." The report
said, "not only are scientific discoveries shared through electronic
journals, but faculty and students in both the sciences and
humanities increasingly rely on electronic resources such as
collections of primary literary texts and historical archives.
Academic libraries are now contending with rapidly expanding
information sources, and facing increasing costs for

§ 2- Sets out the short title.

§ 3- Amends section 100 of the Economic Development Law which sets out
the general powers of the Department to include promoting the broad
availability of information resources.

§ 4- Adds a new Article 18 to the Economic Development Law entitled
Academic Research Information Access. Specifically, this section
establishes in statute the framework for the Academic Research
Information Access (ARIA) act. Doing so, this section defines the
participating entities and beneficiaries, provides for a
representative advisory board
to oversee procurement of information resources, and establishes
guidelines for the procedures of ARIA.

§5. Effective date.

JUSTIFICATION:
New York State labors under a state and national economic recession,
widespread budgetary cuts, and in many regions an outdated economic


model. At the same time New York has the largest and best network of
public and private institutions of higher education and research,
from two-year colleges to elite universities.
In order to experience economic revitalization the state must harness
the power and resources of higher education. ARIA offers a way to
promote both campus-based research and off-campus job creation
without adding new costs.

ARIA facilitates collaboration and efficiencies by providing for the
voluntary pooling of assets in order to obtain access to high-end
electronic, peer-reviewed information resources such as journals,
serials, and databases. This allows for greater acquisition of and
access to the vital resources that support research in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Access to STEM materials is increasing in demand, and increasingly
expensive. Prices of some journals have risen as much as 50 percent
over the past five years - a time during which most campuses are
experiencing budget cuts. As budgets decline and costs rise, the
pricing of STEM research creates a growing digital divide between
elite universities and other public and private institutions.

Experience demonstrates that publishers and vendors concede the
greatest cost savings when collective buying power is applied, when
there is a single-point contract holder, and when the state is
involved. ARIA seizes on all three opportunities.

ARIA provides that the state pursue electronic research collections
under the guidance of a volunteer advisory board representative of
the academic and research library community. This board will manage
dealings with the publishers. Upon agreement, the state will act as
an aggregator of library funds - voluntarily offered - and serve as
the single contract holder. The participating institutions will gain
needed budget relief through the collective buying power of all
participating partners. In turn, the state will stipulate that
contracts for the information resources provide access to qualified
emerging technology companies - thus lowering their cost of doing
business.

A preliminary survey of academic and research libraries demonstrates
that through ARIA the average participant will enjoy a 7 percent
reduction in cost and a 10 percent increase in collection size.

The beneficiaries of these information resources will operate
primarily in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and
medicine. Access to ARIA resources will be available to all
participating researchers, scholars, faculty and students at member
and associated institutions of the New York state higher education
initiative, as well as other participating
institutions registered by the state education department office of
college and university evaluation (OCUE).
Access to ARIA resources will also be available to researchers,
entrepreneurs, other innovators existing in business incubators
aligned with the New York state higher education initiative member
and associated institutions, as well as, recipients of grants from
the New York state foundation for science, technology and innovations
which is- merged into Department of Economic Development, the empire


state development corporation.
Other beneficiaries include businesses with fifty or fewer employees
which otherwise meet the definition of a qualified emerging
technology company as defined by paragraph (c) of subdivision one of
section thirty-one hundred two-e of the public authorities law.

ARIA was among the recommendations of the Governor's Commission on
Higher Education in its 2008 Final Report. The direction and focus of
ARIA is reflected in the final reports of the Governor's 2009 Task
Force on Diversifying the New York State Economy, the 2009 report
"Building New York City's Innovation Economy" of the Center for an
Urban Future, the 2007 A.T. Kearney report commissioned by Empire
State Development, and the 2007 "Investing in Innovation" report by
the National Governor's Association and the Pew Foundation Center on
the States, among others.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2010: Similar to A.9824/S.6855; 2009: A.7229/S.5419 Veto Message 80 of
2009; 2008: A.9672/S.6741.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the 180th day after it shall have become
a law.