Comparative Innovation Policy: Best Practice for the 21st Century

The global economy is characterized by increasing locational competition
to attract the resources necessary to develop leading-edge technologies as
drivers of regional and national growth. One means of facilitating such growth
involves national technology programs designed to support research and
development of new technologies and enhance the performance of centers of
research and production of globally competitive products. The Board on Science,
Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) proposes to study selected foreign
technology programs and compare them with major U.S. programs. The analysis,
carried out under the direction of an ad hoc Committee, would include a review
of the goals, concept, structure, operation, funding levels, and evaluation of
foreign programs similar to the Advanced Technology Program and related U.S.
programs. The Committee would assess foreign programs using a standard
template, convene a series of meetings to gather data from responsible
officials and program managers both in the U.S. and abroad, and encourage a
systematic dissemination of information and analysis as a means of better
understanding the transition of research into products and of improving the
operation of U.S. technology programs.

Committee Members:

Mr. Alan Wm. Wolff, (Chair), Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP

Dr. Kenneth S. Flamm - (Co-Vice Chair), The University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Mary L. Good - (Co-Vice Chair), University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Dr. Alice H. Amsden, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Gail H. Cassell, Eli Lilly and Company

Dr. Lewis S. Edelheit, GE Corporate Research and Development [Retired]

Dr. Bronwyn H. Hall, University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Mark B. Myers, Xerox Corporation [Retired]

Dr. Carl J. Dahlman, Georgetown University