Research investment
UD joins call to action for American 'Innovation Imperative'
11:51 a.m., June 23, 2015--The University of Delaware has joined scores of other organizations, as well as leaders of American business, industry, higher education, science and engineering, in an urgent call to action for stronger federal policies and investment to drive domestic research and development.
Ten CEOs and 252 organizations, including UD, have signed “Innovation: An American Imperative,” a document aimed at federal decision makers and legislators.
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The document underscores the findings and warnings contained in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences report, “Restoring the Foundation: The Vital Role of Research in Preserving the American Dream.”
According to the report, “There is a deficit between what America is investing and what it should be investing to remain competitive, not only in research but in innovation and job creation.”
The United States is failing to keep pace with competitor nations with regard to investments in basic research and development, it notes. America’s ascendency in the 20th century was due in large part, if not primarily, to its investments in science and engineering research.
Basic research is behind every new product brought to market, every new medical device or drug, every new defense and space technology and many innovative business practices, the report adds.
Over the last two decades, a steady decline in investment in research and development in the United States has allowed the nation to fall to 10th place in R&D investment among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).
At this pace, China will surpass the United States in R&D intensity in about eight years, the report says.
These developments led a diverse coalition of those concerned with the future of research in America to join together in presenting the Innovation Imperative to federal policy makers and urging them to take action to:
- End sequestration’s deep cuts to federal investments in R&D
- Make permanent a strengthened federal R&D tax credit
- Improve student achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
- Reform U.S. visa policy
- Streamline or eliminate costly and inefficient regulations
- Reaffirm merit-based peer review
- Stimulate further improvements in advanced manufacturing
“This is an important document prescribing vital actions the federal government can take to ensure R&D investments of today foster innovations, economic growth and job creation today and tomorrow,” said Charlie Riordan, deputy provost for research and scholarship at the University of Delaware.
“These common sense measures are imperative for the United States to maintain excellence in innovation that has led to life-changing advances, from the touchscreen found in all smart phones and tablets, to technology that enabled the human genome project, which has transformed human health. These advances are among the many products of UD research efforts,” Riordan said.