SCIENCE IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST -- Aug 4 th

[David Farber <farber () linc cis upenn edu>]

           Finally, we must emphasize that science advances the
national interest and improves our quality of life only as part of a
larger enterprise.  Today's science and technology enterprise is more
like an ecosystem than a production line.  Fundamental science and
technological advances are interdependent, and the steps from
fundamental science to the marketplace or to the clinic require healthy
institutions and entrepreneurial spirit across society.  Many of these
institutions need attention.  Nevertheless, we cannot afford to lose
sight of the importance of scientific research and education for
sustained progress in the modern world.


Reaching Our Goals


To reach each of the five goals articulated above, this Administration
proposes a coherent, integrated set of policies and will work to refine
and implement them in concert with the Congress, state and local
governments, academia, industry, the research and educational
communities, and our citizens.  We are all stakeholders in the
scientific enterprise, and we now must focus on a shared commitment.


        American Presidents have a tradition of strong support for
science and technology. This Administration has already taken two key
steps to help move us towards our goals.  In November 1993, the
President established the National Science and Technology Council
(NSTC) to coordinate  Federal research and development across the
government.  This cabinet-level group, chaired by the President,
elevates science and technology policy discussions to the level of
those for national security, domestic, and economic policy.  The NSTC
will couple research to the fiscal and regulatory structures needed to
facilitate application of science and technology to the national
interest.  In November 1993, the President also established the
President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
This group of academic and industry advisors will provide valuable
community input on major policy issues.


Maintain leadership across the frontiers of scientific knowledge


It has seldom proved possible to anticipate which areas of science will
bring forward surprising and important breakthroughs at any give time.
Therefore, U.S. scientists must be among those working at the leading
edge in all major fields in order for us to retain and improve our
competitive position in the long term.  This means that U.S. scientists
and engineers continue to make a significant share of the most
important scientific advances. They must maintain our tradition of
scientific excellence, produce a scientific, engineering and technical
workforce educated at the highest levels in all important disciplines
and technologies, and create an infrastructure able to capitalize on
and advance key discoveries no matter where they occur.  This goal will
serve the NSTC as the principal guide to investment in fundamental
science and engineering research.


        Breadth of scientific excellence is necessary to maintain the
enterprise at the appropriate standard.  Different areas of science and
their associated cutting-edge technologies are tightly interconnected.
Advances in one area often have unanticipated major benefits in totally
different areas.  Furthermore, nature yields her most precious secrets
in surprising ways,  to those who are well prepared and persistent, and
with a schedule not often amenable to detailed planning.  Thus,
although we can and must do more to identify and coordinate research
thrusts aimed at strategic goals, we must not limit our future by
restricting the range of our inquiry.  Vibrant scientific disciplines
are best guaranteed by the initiatives of talented investigators and in
turn provide the strongest and most enduring foundation for science in
the national interest.  That quantum theory would lead to today's
electronics, or investigations of DNA structure to genetic engineering,
could not be anticipated.  Countless examples could be provided; the
few which accompany this statement are tangible evidence of
inspiration, promise, and improved quality of life for our citizens.
We can be confident that our children and grandchildren will look back
at today's fundamental science and its ultimate benefit with the same
surprise and appreciation that we experience today.


        Accomplishing this leadership goal will require that the NSTC
and PCAST evaluate both the research portfolio and the status of the
physical infrastructure needed for research. Coordination of agency
responsibilities and commitments in these areas will be essential for
appropriate stewardship of the scientific enterprise during this period
of fiscal constraint.  The NSTC will initiate Presidential Review
Directives and Presidential Decision Directives to ensure that science
and technology policy decisions are implemented across the
participating agencies.  Nine NSTC standing committees, including one
specifically focused on Fundamental Science, are composed of senior
officials from the agencies and from the Executive Office of the
President.  They identify priorities and prepare technical information,
implementation plans, and milestones and measures of progress in
support of NSTC priorities. Long range planning and stable support will
be important ingredients in this Administration's strategy.


        As a result of deliberate and successful long-term investment
strategies, a number of countries now possess world-class research
capabilities.  If U.S. researchers are to sustain leadership and
strengthen participation in collaborative scientific endeavors, we must
increase our level of interaction with colleagues in other countries.
In many important areas of contemporary research, ranging from studies
of seismic activity to biodiversity to global change, our scientists
can be optimally effective only through international partnerships.  In
areas such as high energy physics, space exploration, and nuclear
fusion research  where expensive facilities are required, it is only
sensible to share with other countries both the benefits and the costs
of constructing and operating these facilities.  We should also look
for opportunities to engage developing nations more fully in the
international science endeavor. As a logical consequence of the North
American Free Trade Agreement and long-term policies, we should
continue to pay particular attention to engaging the scientific
communities of the Americas.


        There is already a considerable amount of scientist-to-
scientist interaction and collaboration.  This is the foundation of
international scientific cooperation.  However, the government has an
important role both in lowering barriers and in supporting large scale
collaborations.  For example, interoperability of data bases and
networks is crucial for enhancing collaboration, and we will continue
to work towards appropriate international standards.  Strengthened
science and technology presence overseas can aid information gathering,
identify more opportunities for effective collaboration, and provide
the basis for economic relations in technical areas.  We must enter
international collaborations with clear responsibilities and secure
commitments for each partner.  For this, we must establish with the
Congress mechanisms for prioritizing, committing to, and then
sustaining long term support for large projects.  This need applies
equally well to large American projects with multi-year time scales.


        Over the long term, U.S. investment in fundamental research
must be commensurate with our national goals.  The Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) provides the benchmark for total economic activity and
thus the most meaningful measure of the R&D investment.  Total U.S.
support of non-defense R&D is about 1.9 percent of GDP, below that of
Germany (2.5 percent) and Japan (3.0 percent).  Including all defense
R&D (most of which is applied research, development, testing and
evaluation), the U.S. total becomes 2.6 percent.  The dominant part of
the non-defense R&D investment is industrially sponsored applied
research and development, that is, activity relatively close to the
marketplace.  The special responsibility of the Federal investment in
sponsoring fundamental research is highlighted by noting that about
two-thirds of fundamental research support is Federal, in comparison to
about one-third of the applied research and development support
(including defense R&D). Still, the Federal expenditure for basic
research, the "venture capital" of our national enterprise, is only
0.27 percent of the GDP.


        We must put into place better mechanisms to evaluate our
investment strategy and to make changes as later evaluations and future
conditions demand.  This Administration's strong emphasis on shifting
the character of defense R&D towards dual civilian- military use will
help focus our overall R&D investment much more on the marketplace.
With steady progress here, a reasonable long term goal for the total
national R&D investment (both civilian and defense) might be about 3
percent of GDP.  This modest increment should be shared by the Federal
government and the private sector.  Additional work on how to assess
this long term goal  will be conducted within the NSTC.  In any event,
the private sector investment will be driven by the global marketplace
in an increasingly technology-based society, with government fiscal and
regulatory policies enabling and stimulating investment.  As the
private sector investment is likely to remain heavily weighted towards
shorter term applied research and development, properly so, the Federal
investment must further strengthen fundamental research, rebuild the
science infrastructure, and strengthen longer term applied research and
development, thereby providing the seed funds for long term health of
the R&D enterprise.


Our investment budget in fundamental science will be improved in the
short term as we examine existing resources and, to match the growing
importance of science as a foundation of modern society, increased with
future improvements in the Federal government's fiscal condition.


The NSTC will provide ongoing evaluation of America's position in
fundamental science, mathematics, and engineering and recommend actions
to assure world leadership in all major fields.


Our investment in fundamental science must be accompanied by careful
attention to support for international collaborations.  The NSTC, with
advice from PCAST, will recommend policies for long-term multinational
agreements for the support of large scientific projects.


We will work with Congress to find mechanisms for long-term
authorization and budgeting commitments for large projects whether
conducted exclusively by American scientists or in partnerships with
other countries.


Enhance connections between fundamental research and national goals


Scientific knowledge is necessary for helping us achieve our national
goals of improved health, environment, prosperity, national security
and quality of life.  Equally important are the social institutions,
markets and government programs that promote the dissemination of
knowledge, technologies, and products.  This Administration has taken
significant steps, such as strong support of the Advanced Technology
Program and establishment of the Technology Reinvestment Program,
towards accelerating the development of technologies critical for
long-term economic growth and for increasing productivity while
reducing environmental impact. Success in this effort demands sustained
commitment to fundamental science, the foundation on which technical
progress ultimately rests.  Truly unexpected technologies, some of
which reshape our work, education, recreation, and well-being,
generally stem from discoveries of fundamental research which have
given us an entirely new way to see how nature works.


        This does not mean that the societal benefits of science and
technology follow a linear progression from fundamental to applied
research, and then development into a product.  We depart here from the
Vannevar Bush canon, which suggested a competition between basic and
applied research.  Instead, we acknowledge the intimate relationships
among and interdependence of basic research, applied research, and
technology, appreciate that progress in any one depends on advances in
the others, and indeed recognize that it is often misleading to label a
particular activity as belonging uniquely to one category.  All
contribute essentially to our national strategic goals.  The synergy
between science and technology requires coherent Federal policies in
both areas.  The NSTC will be the Administration's principal instrument
to instill coherence in the Federal research and development
enterprise.  The Council will identify research thrusts of special
promise and develop the appropriate investment portfolio across Federal
agencies.


        Many Federal agencies depend upon and contribute to our science
and technology base in pursuing their missions supporting national
goals.  Federal laboratories associated with these agencies are an
important part of our national science investment and infrastructure.
For example, in addition to directly supporting agency research and
development needs, they operate large facilities for fundamental
research by university scientists and develop, maintain, and
disseminate critical data bases.   In these changing times, their
missions and contributions to national goals are changing as well.
They must be part of strengthened connections between fundamental
research and evolving national goals.


        We understand that the fruit of fundamental research
initiatives may not ripen for some time.  The time scale can be long,
and success may hinge on facilities or interdisciplinary research teams
that take years to assemble.  Even in the face of current budgetary
pressures, considerations about fundamental science, including the
social and behavioral sciences, must remain integral to the agency
planning activities.  We cannot allow a short-term mission focus to
compromise development of the intellectual capital vital to our
Nation's future.


The NSTC will foster, prioritize, and coordinate major cross-agency
fundamental research and education initiatives coupled to national
goals.
        Each agency that depends on or contributes to our science and
technology base will, with involvement of the scientific community,
delineate its fundamental research and education missions with respect
to the national goals; develop long- range plans for its fundamental
science, mathematics and engineering investment; and develop measures
to evaluate its contributions.


A cross-agency review of Federal laboratories will give particular
attention to their role in support of national goals and their
effectiveness in performance and support of fundamental science,
mathematics and engineering.




Stimulate partnerships that promote investments in fundamental science
and engineering and effective use of physical, human, and financial
resources


The Federal government can foster the conditions that stimulate private
sector investments in fundamental research and in the facilities in
which competitive research and quality education are conducted.  For
industry, these include an appropriate fiscal and budgetary
environment, a stable science-based regulatory system, a global trade
environment which encourages commercialization of technology, and
intellectual property protection.  For colleges, universities, and
medical schools, the conditions include stable policies on research
funding, establishing equitable policies for financing the
construction, renovation, and modernization of educational and research
facilities, and modernizing the costing principles for academic
buildings and equipment.


        Economic competitiveness is rooted in the health of industry at
state and local levels. That is where job creation occurs.  Thus, we
seek to leverage industry-university collaboration using existing state
mechanisms and to encourage new state initiatives.


        The underlying purpose of industrial and industrially-
sponsored research is to stimulate innovation and thereby to create new