New Report Provides Praise But Caution for U.S. Competitive Position
“This is one of the best arguments I have seen for continued Federal support of dual-use technology research and development -- our very economic and security future may depend on it.” -- John H. Gibbons, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a report last month that the Administration will likely use to argue for support of its cooperative programs with industry. The 197-page “National Critical Technologies Report,” the third in a biennial series, reviews the United States’ competitive position in seven broad technology categories, and 27 specific technology areas, in comparison with the positions of Japan and the European Community.
While the report concludes that the U.S. is either leading or at parity with its competitors in all 27 of the categories identified, it warns that the size of the U.S. lead in many areas is declining. According to John Gibbons, the President’s Assistant for Science and Technology and director of OSTP, “This report documents the very tenuous lead we maintain in many of the technologies critical to our military and economic well-being at the very same time that the new Congressional leadership proposes to gut the very core of our strategy to preserve American preeminence in these critical areas. What is also abundantly clear in this report is the degree to which certain key technologies - such as information technology, manufacturing processes, sensor development, and advanced materials - are crucial to both military and economic security..... The next generation of military systems and capabilities requires superior technology in five of seven major technology categories, including 21 of 27 critical areas surveyed by the report.”
The report was prepared by OSTP with assistance from the Critical Technologies Institute, and reviewed informally by an independent panel of public- and private-sector leaders. The technologies surveyed were identified from various Defense Department documents. The categories and areas examined are: Energy: energy efficiency; storage, conditioning, distribution, and transmission; and improved generation. Environmental Quality: monitoring and assessment; pollution control; and remediation and restoration. Information and Communication: components; communications, computer systems; information management; intelligent complex adaptive systems; sensors; and software and toolkits. Living Systems: biotechnology; medical technology; agriculture and food technology; and human factors. Manufacturing: discrete product manufacturing; continuous materials processing; and micro/nanofabrication and machining. Materials: materials; structures. Transportation: aerodynamics; avionics and controls; propulsion and power; systems integration; and human interface.
According to the report, critical technologies fall under the “applied research” and “development” portion of the federal R&D portfolio. The document is intended to identify necessary areas of focus for the federal R&D effort, and to coordinate federal R&D policy with a common set of priorities. A copy of the report can be obtained from RAND (contact: Linda Tanner, (202) 296-5000, x5692.)
