Perspectives on U.S. Competitiveness in Science and Technology

Abstract

Is the United States in danger of losing its competitive edge in science and technology "S&T"? In response to this concern, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness asked RAND to convene a meeting, held on November 8, 2006, to review evidence presented by experts from academia, government, and the private sector. The papers presented at the meeting addressed a wide range of issues surrounding the United States' current and future S&T competitiveness, including science policy, the quantitative assessment of S&T capability, globalization, the rise of Asia "particularly China and India", innovation, trade, technology diffusion, the increase in foreign-born S&T students and workers in the United States, new directions in the management and compensation of federal S&T workers, and national security and the defense industry. These papers provide a partial survey of the facts, challenges, and questions posed by the potential erosion of U.S. S&T capability. The importance of S&T to U.S. prosperity and security warrants that policymakers pay careful attention to the various high-level reports issued over the past ve years that warn of pressures on the U.S. lead in S&T. The intellectual point of embarkation for the RAND meeting was the foremost recent such report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, by the National Academy of Sciences.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2007
Accession Number
ADA472997

Entities

People

  • James R. Hosek
  • Titus Galama

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Business Administration
  • Employment
  • Foreign Relations
  • Geography
  • Globalization
  • Intellectual Property
  • International Relations
  • Management Personnel
  • Materials Science
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Public Administration
  • Public Policy
  • Security Personnel
  • Semiconductor Manufacturing
  • Students

Readers

  • Academic Conference Management
  • Economics
  • Strategic Security Studies