Don Smith Jr., university director of economic development at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, has relinquished his seat on the board of Innovation Works, the Hazelwood-based technology company nest.

His term was up last December, but he stepped down in June. Timothy McNulty, associate provost for strategic technology initiatives at CMU, has assumed Smith's seat.

Smith's been busy making the rounds to gain support for a new proposal to launch an umbrella organization for the region's tech economic development groups.

The idea behind this yet-to-be-named collaborative is to develop a regional strategy for growing a vibrant tech community in the Pittsburgh region -- and that's including the 10-county area, not just university-heavy Oakland.

The trick, sources tell me, is to iron out the details and generate buy-in from everyone who would be affected -- most public and private dollars that fund these local tech groups would be funneled through the over-arching umbrella organization.

Additionally, the "umbrella" would be led by a director who would oversee the regional strategy, and of course, act as an advocate at the state and federal level and to private entities on behalf of the member organizations. The umbrella organization also would have an advisory board, composed of local names with a lot of clout, including university chiefs Mark Nordenberg of the University of Pittsburgh and Jared Cohon of Carnegie Mellon University and PNC Financial Services Group Chief Executive Officer James Rohr, who soon will be chairing the Allegheny Conference on Community and Economic Development.

Local groups that could comprise the umbrella are numerous, including the university technology transfer offices at both Pitt and CMU; the Pittsburgh Technology Council, the local trade group; tech-incubator the Idea Foundry; the robotics and digital greenhouse, now known as the Technology Collaborative; and the Life Sciences Greenhouse. Other groups are expected to be included, too.

Tech start-up engine Innovation Works is a different situation, because it's already part of its own umbrella, as Western Pennsylvania's version of the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, a mostly state-funded initiative charged with growing tech companies in Pennsylvania.

Sources close to the plan say a number of local tech thinkers developed the plan, but the effort has been largely championed by Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, who approached the tech community last year looking for ways to help.

That's not to say all of the groups who will be affected have bought into the idea ... yet. Word is there are some chirps of dissension around town from people concerned about losing power or that one funding source for tech economic development could hurt more than help local efforts.

Others are breathing sighs of relief, saying it'll make their jobs a lot easier if they have a one-stop shop for funding their organizations and consequently can focus more on the work to be done.

Smith's name is at the top of the short list to lead the endeavor, should it get off the ground.

The details, sources say, have yet to be ironed out. But the dream is to have everyone thinking and working in tech on the same page, "playing in the sandbox nicely," as one source said, and a well-funded organization driving it all. "The question is," said someone else, "is will it bring more money to the entrepreneurial community?"

Marconi Data Networks officials are saying that the company has no plans to sell or vacate its expansive Marshall campus. Instead, the telecommunications firm signed a contract with commercial brokerage house Grubb & Ellis on Aug. 16 to lease 200,000 square feet of its office space. Another 90,000 square feet are available to build to suit, the company said, part of an unfinished building on the campus.

A portion of the 575,000-square-foot campus has already been claimed by Heinz Innovation Center and Vesuvius USA's data center, which are sharing digs with Marconi's staff of about 500 -- including access to its upscale cafeteria and gym facilities. "Marconi is runnings its own operation on the majority of the campus," said spokeswoman Colleen Rosander.

Frank Demmler, the entrepreneurial guru to many local tech firms who teaches on the same subject at CMU's Tepper School of Business, has busy days and jet lag to look forward to starting Sept. 4. Demmler has only recently begun his new gig at Innovation Works as its director of portfolio services, but will leave for CMU's Doha, Qatar, campus to continue his other job as a professor of entrepreneurship.

Demmler's not abandoning Innovation Works and local tech upstarts. He'll just be working two jobs, he said, telecommuting from Qatar a few days a week to stay close to IW's portfolio companies and other up-and-coming tech firms. And he won't be gone for long, Demmler said he'll return to his IW office in Hazelwood at the first of January.

Software maker StepOne Systems LLC, a Carnegie-based tech spinoff from Reston, Va.-based Dimension Data North America, said it purchased the firm's networking division, including some intellectual property, clients and staffers. Launched in April, StepOne, whose software helps businesses such as retailers gather information over wireless networks, is led by Todd Berner.