International Science and Technology Issues: Summary of a Report to the Committee on Science (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
April 20, 1998 |
| Report Number |
98-353 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Glenn J. McLoughlin, Science, Technology, and Medicine Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The 1990s have been a time of great vitality and change for U.S. science and technology
(S&T)
policy and research and development (R&D) programs. As a result, many Members of
Congress
have asked what might be done to set national S&T priorities more efficiently, establish
policies, and
fund or otherwise support R&D programs that best enhance U.S. resources?
The answers may be found, in part, by understanding other nations' S&T policies and
R&D
programs within the context of U.S. policy and programs. For many, U.S. S&T policy (and the
R&D
programs supported by the policy) is perhaps the most successful in the world, often admired and
sometimes copied. But U.S. science and technology does not exist in a vacuum. The United States
is constantly interacting with other nations that seek to cooperate and/or compete in science and
technology. A better understanding of other nations policies and programs may better inform
domestic U.S. S&T policy and R&D programs; other U.S. policies, such as trade or
national security;
and U.S. interactions with other nations in S&T issues, such as when countries engage in
international agreements.
The Science, Technology, and Medicine Division of the Congressional Research Service
prepared a comparative study of international science and technology at the request of the Committee
on Science of the House of Representatives. This report is a summary of the larger two-part study
completed October 1997 and February 1998.
The data in this two-part study shows a great variety of how nations support R&D. For
example, governments in Russia, Brazil, India, and Mexico fund over half of the national R&D,
while in countries such as Japan, Korea, Germany, and Canada, less than one-third of all national
funding comes from government sources. In the United States, the R&D funding trend in recent
years has been for less government support for total R&D and more industry support. In
S&T policy,
a wide range of national perspectives are documented as well. The European Union has a
transnational S&T policymaking process known as the Framework program, unique in both its
size
and scope. The United Kingdom utilizes a technology foresight program as part of its national
S&T
policymaking. In Israel, a national S&T policy is directly linked to economic development and
industrial growth. Yet other nations, such as Brazil, struggle with incorporating a coherent national
S&T policy as a way to address national goals and objectives.
