This report contains the proceedings of a one-day workshop organized by the National Research Council's Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP), in conjunction with a study by a panel of the NRC Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT). This combined activity was commissioned by the Science Resources Statistics Division (SRS) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to recommend improvements in the Foundation's portfolio of surveys of research and development spending by the federal government, state governments, private industry, the nation's universities and colleges, and other nonprofit institutions.
The science and engineering enterprise has continued to evolve, responding over the last decade to increased economic globalization, a post-cold war military, federal budget fluctuations, and structural changes in the way science and engineering are conducted and innovations are adopted. This report suggests ways to revise the data collection activities of the Science Resources Studies Division (SRS) of the National Science Foundation to better capture the current realities of R&D funding and S&E human resources. The report's recommendations would improve the relevance of the data on graduate education, the labor market for scientists and engineers, and the funding and conduct of research and development, and thus better meet the data needs of policymakers, managers, and researchers.
The internationally recognised methodology for collecting and using R&D statistics, the OECD's Frascati Manual is an essential tool for statisticians and science and innovation policy makers worldwide. It includes definitions of basic concepts, data collection guidelines, and classifications ...
This book introduces readers to essential technology assessment and forecasting tools, demonstrating their use on the basis of multiple cases. As organizations in the high-tech industry need to be able to assess emerging technologies, the book presents cases in which formal decision-making models are developed, providing a framework for decision-making in the context of technology acquisition and development. Applications of different technology forecasting tools are also discussed for a range of technologies and sectors, providing a guide to keep R&D organizations abreast of technological trends that affect their business. As such, the book offers a valuable the theoretical and practical reference guide for R&D managers responsible for emerging and future technologies.
This book develops and illustrates a comprehensive, multi-level framework for the evaluation of industrial research and development (R&D) activities and the measurement of their performance. The framework encompasses a set of hierarchical, interrelated levels at which R&D evaluation and performance measurement could be undertaken. This enlightening book focuses on the single industrial firm to study performance measurement of R&D functions, projects and individual researchers or engineers. It also addresses R&D evaluation from the point of view of financial markets, with a focus on the relationship between R&D investments and the value of the traded firm. The book broadens tin scope to study the role of technology platforms as R&D coordination mechanisms and also looks at the evaluation of R&D policies. This book will be warmly welcomed by researchers and postgraduate students in disciplines concerned with innovation management, technology policy, and finance who wish to gain an updated overview of R&D evaluation and performance measurement as well as exploring different units of analysis.
The United States faces a new challengeâ€"maintaining the vitality of its system for supporting science and technology despite fiscal stringency during the next several years. To address this change, the Senate Appropriations Committee requested a report from the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and the Institute of Medicine to address "the criteria that should be used in judging the appropriate allocation of funds to research and development activities; to examine the appropriate balance among different types of institutions that conduct such research; and to look at the means of assuring continued objectivity in the allocation process." In this eagerly-awaited book, a committee of experts selected by the National Academies and the Institute responds with 13 recommendations that propose a new budgeting process and formulates a series of questions to address during that process. The committee also makes corollary recommendations about merit review, government oversight, linking research and development to government missions, the synergy between research and education, and other topics. The recommendations are aimed at rooting out obsolete and inadequate activities to free resources from good programs for even better ones, in the belief that "science and technology will be at least as important in the future as they have been in the past in dealing with problems that confront the nation." The authoring committee of this book was chaired by Frank Press, former President of the National Academy of Sciences (1981-1993) and Presidential Science and Technology Advisor (1977-1981).
Perceptions that the pace of new-drug development has slowed and that the pharmaceutical industry is highly profitable have sparked concerns that significant problems loom for future drug development. This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study-prepared at the request of the Senate Majority Leader-reviews basic facts about the drug industry's recent spending on research and development (R&D) and its output of new drugs. The study also examines issues relating to the costs of R&D, the federal government's role in pharmaceutical research, the performance of the pharmaceutical industry in developing innovative drugs, and the role of expected profits in private firms' decisions about investing in drug R&D. In keeping with CBO's mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, the study makes no recommendations. David H. Austin prepared this report under the supervision of Joseph Kile and David Moore. Colin Baker provided valuable consultation...
