Research Universities and the Future of America Ten Breakthrough Actions Vital to Our Nation's Prosperity and Security (2012) / Chapter Skim
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2 National Goals and Assets
2 National Goals and Assets
Pages 25-36
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• Advances in medicine and health care: – Biomedical research, such as that funded by the National Institutes of Health, seeks "fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems." The application of that knowledge enhances health, lengthens life, and reduces the burdens of illness and disability. 1 – Behavioral and social research help us understand and address mental illness, addiction, and health disparities; provide insights that allow us to increase prevention and wellness, manage disease, and support 1 See http://www.nih.gov/about/mission.htm (accessed March 12, 2012)
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– Social science research helps us understand how population change and economic development affect the environment, how societies adapt to environmental change, how people understand environmental risks, and ways to encourage the invention, adoption, and use of technologies that improve environmental conditions. – Advances in technology improve water and air quality, reduce pollution, facilitate environmental cleanup, and improve agricultural productivity and sustainability.
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From page 27... ...
As the National Governors Association notes, "colleges and universities play a critical role in state economies through the production of workers in critical occupations, the conduct of research, and the dissemination and commercialization of new knowledge." 2 These institutions have a global impact as well as their research which translates into new knowledge and innovative technologies plays a strong role in addressing global grand challenges that affect all of humankind (see Box 2-1)
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. • A strongly growing and increasingly diverse population, enriched by its capacity to attract talented immigrants from around the world.
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Recently, for example, indexes of innovation and/or competitiveness have placed the United States variously at 4th, 8th, or 11th globally, depending on the indicators and methodology used.6 The National Academies' Rising Above the Gathering Storm, which provided a detailed analysis of our nation's competitiveness, expressed pride in the vitality of the American economy, "derived in large part from the productivity of well-trained people and the steady stream of scientific and technological innovations they produce." However, they also noted, 4 Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Academic Rankings of World Universities -- 2010. Avail able at: http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010.jsp (accessed February 9, 2011)
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A substantial portion of our workforce finds itself in direct competition for jobs with lower wage workers around the globe, and leading-edge scientific and engineering work is being accomplished in many parts of the world. Thanks to globalization, driven by modern communications and other advances, workers in virtually every sector must now face competitors who live just a mouse-click away in Ireland, Finland, China, India, or dozens of other nations whose economies are growing.
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In the past quarter-century, several deeply significant developments 7 National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2007, pp.
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, global sourcing moved production of many goods to low-wage economies.9 • Countries that benefited from lower-cost production of goods for export -- first, Japan, then Taiwan and South Korea, now China and India -- took the profits and reinvested them in the innovation capacity -- including educational and research infrastructure -- that will allow them to advance further.10 • More advanced countries have also noted the importance of and have invested in education and research, particularly in science and technology. So, while the United States has increased the percentage of its 24-year-olds who have earned a first university degree in the natural sciences or engineering, other countries such as Finland, France, and the United Kingdom, have increased it further and now outpace us on this key indicator.11 Similarly, while the United States has continued to fund research and development at a high level, other countries have increased their spending at a still faster rate.12 These are powerful trends that led Thomas Friedman to argue that "the world is flat."13 The United States must continue to capitalize on its assets in this flatter world, but to do so requires a concerted and strategic effort.
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, examines country performance on 57 indicators, including competing in the world economy, connecting to global research, and investing in the knowledge economy.16 Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5 examined multiple "ingredients for innovation" across knowledge capital, human capital, and the innovation environment.17 The importance of research universities to knowledge generation and innovation is evident in all of these indicators. Five of the ITIF–EABC indicators -- corporate research and development (R&D)
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Rank 2011 Overall Rank 4 Higher Education Attainment: 10 Percentage of adults aged 25-34 with a tertiary degree Science and Technology Researchers: 6 Science and technology researchers per 1,000 population Corporate Investment in R&D: 5 Investments in research and development by business as a percentage of GDP Government Investment in R&D: 8 Investments in R&D by government as a percentage of GDP Share and Quality of World's Scientific and Technical Publications: 14 S&T publications per million people and the relative prominence of those publications Venture Capital: 11 Venture capital investment as a percentage of GDP New Firms: 11 New corporations as a percent of total corporations E-Government: 2 A measure of the utilization of digital technology in national government Broadband Telecommunications: 11 Broadband quality and subscription rates per capita Corporate Investment in Information Technology: 5 Business investments in IT as a share of GDP Effective Corporate Tax Rates: 35 Average 5-year effective marginal corporate tax rate Ease of Doing Business: 4 A measurement of the regulatory and business climate Trade Balance: 37 Trade balance as a percentage of GDP Foreign Direct Investment Inflows: 34 Inflows from foreign direct investment as a share of GDP GDP per Working-Age Adult: 1 GDP (PPP) per adult age 25-64 Productivity: 3 GDP (PPP)
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This is consistent with the notion that governments should assume responsibility for supporting activities that produce benefits to society as a whole but not necessarily to the individual performer or underwriter. In such a scenario the nation's research universities will have to assume even greater responsibility for performing much of the nation's research -- with that research largely being funded by the federal government."18 18 Members of the "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" Committee, Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5, p.
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