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Prospering in the 21st-Century Economy
The Record | The Challenge | The Plan | The Opportunity
THE RECORD
Cellular telephones, computers, disease-resistant crops, satellites, biotechnology, fiber optic networks: these are among the 20th-century technologies that will shape political, social, and economic realities well into the 21st century -- realities that include the continuing globalization of business, culture, and health care.
- This new environment heightens both opportunities and pitfalls, and it puts a premium on the wisdom of the choices that we make. The National Academies have long provided that wisdom and a sense of clarity by addressing such issues as --
- The impact of national security, trade, and tax policies on industrial innovation, productivity, and competitiveness.
- The key manufacturing challenges facing industry in the 21st century -- and their implications for broader society.
- The social, economic, and ethical implications of technological advances in such fields as materials science, bioengineering, communications, and information management.
- The role that government should play in setting goals for discovery and innovation in science and technology.
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THE NEW ECONOMIC CHALLENGE
The ability to thrive in the new century’s economy -- where thriving will mean both competing with and supporting other nations’ growth, success, and well-being -- will rest heavily on industry’s ability to use and create continued innovations in science and engineering. Successfully extending the innovation ethos globally will contribute to enhanced global prosperity.
Meeting the challenge of being innovative requires that corporate leaders, researchers, educators, and policymakers clearly understand how their separate goals and initiatives interact as well as the implications of each other’s long-term vision. They must also be prepared to learn from past successes, failures, and missed opportunities.
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THE PLAN
The National Academies will work to spur science and engineering innovation in the United States and globally by first anticipating issues, then helping resolve those issues by building more effective lines of communication among and between corporate leaders, scientists, researchers, engineers, health care professionals, educators, and policymakers -- both nationally and internationally. Its initiatives will include --
- The newly created Program in Science, Technology, and Law, which will explore the role that science, engineering, and medical expertise should play in the nation’s courtrooms; seeking to help the legal system respond to the explosion of scientifically related legal issues and cases, the program will regularly convene the scientific, engineering, medical, and legal communities to clarify issues at the intersection of these fields.
- Continuing the Academies’ decades-long initiatives on economic competitive-ness, including efforts to evaluate the success of government stimulants to private science and technology initiatives and extending evaluations of the impacts that government security, trade, and tax policies have on industrial innovation, productivity, and competitiveness.
- Building on findings from two important studies, Time Horizons and Technology Investments, which identifies manufacturing companies that have mastered “long-haul” technological investments, and Risk and Innovation, which shows how small and medium-sized companies manage risk and innovation while highlighting the enormous economic importance of these companies.
- Using engineering and technology to address global climate changes that arise naturally or from human activities, an Earth Systems Engineering Initiative will examine the economic, ethical, and societal issues associated with deliberate modifications of the Earth’s natural systems and will identify new technologies and new approaches to environmental remediation.
- Addressing the economic and security challenges inherent in the anticipated global population growth -- an increase that could see the equivalent of eight new 10-million-person cities emerge each year for the next 50 years, mostly in the developing world. Responses to the challenges of these new “megacities” will span a broad range of National Academies’ expertise -- from construction technology, water and power, and environmental impacts to governance and human rights.
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THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHAPE THE FUTURE
The National Academies need your assistance to implement their plans for meeting the New Economic challenge. You might consider --
- Funding an annual forum to examine emerging issues at the intersection of engineering, business, and public policy, such as intellectual property rights or privacy on the Internet ($100,000 annually).
- Funding for senior scholars to lead program activities with a strong industrial and economic focus ($100,000 annually).
- Funding the Program in Science, Technology, and the Law’s annual lecture, forum series, and dissemination of the resulting publications to the legal, policy, business, and medical communities ($175,000 annually).
As the defined needs change and our programs evolve, so too will your opportunities to help. To learn about more ways you can shape the future through the work of the National Academies, visit the Giving Opportunities page or contact us at giving@nationalacademies.org. We welcome your ideas, too.
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_______________ T h e . P l a n . f o r . t h e . F u t u r e _______________
Providing Information for a Free Society
Educating Our Children
Protecting the World's Resources
Promoting Quality Health Care for All
Prospering in the 21st-Century Economy
Securing a Safer World
Guiding Science, Engineering, and Medicine 
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