BUILDING THE 21ST CENTURY
U.S.-China Cooperation on Science,
Technology, and Innovation
Summary of a Symposium
Charles W. Wessner, Rapporteur
Committee on Comparative National Innovation Policies:
Best Practice for the 21st Century
Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy
Policy and Global Affairs
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by: Contract/Grant No. N01-OD-4-2139, TO #245, between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institutes of Health; Contract/Grant No. DE-PI0000010, TO #15, between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Energy; Contract/Grant No. SB1341-03-C-0032 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Commerce; Contract/Grant No. OFED-858931 between the National Academy of Sciences and Sandia National Laboratories; and Contract/Grant No. NAVY-N00014-05-G-0288, DO #2, between the National Academy of Sciences and the Office of Naval Research. Additional funding was provided by Cisco Systems, Intel Corporation, International Business Machines, the Palo Alto Research Center, the Association of University Research Parks, and Google. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
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COMMITTEE ON COMPARATIVE NATIONAL
INNOVATION POLICIES: BEST PRACTICE FOR THE
21ST CENTURY*
Alan Wm. Wolff, Chair
Of Counsel
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP
and STEP Board
Kenneth S. Flamm, Co-Vice Chair
Dean Rusk Chair in International Affairs
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
University of Texas at Austin
Alice H. Amsden
Professor of Political Economy Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Gail H. Cassell (IOM)
Vice President, Scientific Affairs and Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar for Infectious Diseases Eli Lilly and Company
Carl J. Dahlman
Henry R. Luce Associate
Professor
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service
Georgetown University
Mary L. Good (NAE), Co-Vice Chair
Donaghey University Professor Dean, Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology
University of Arkansas at Little Rock and STEP Board
Bronwyn Hall
Professor of Economics University of California at Berkeley
Kent H. Hughes
Public Policy Scholar
Woodrow Wilson Center
Mark B. Myers
Senior Vice President, retired Xerox
*As of May 2010
Project Staff *
Charles W. Wessner
Study Director
McAlister T. Clabaugh
Program Officer
David S. Dawson
Sr. Project Assistant
David E. Dierksheide
Program Officer
Peter Engardio
Consultant
Adam H. Gertz
Program Associate (through June 2010)
Sujai J. Shivakumar
Senior Program Officer
*As of November 2010
For the National Research Council (NRC), this project was overseen by the Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy (STEP), a standing board of the NRC established by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and the Institute of Medicine in 1991. The mandate of the STEP Board is to integrate understanding of scientific, technological, and economic elements in the formulation of national policies to promote the economic well-being of the United States. A distinctive characteristic of STEP’s approach is its frequent interactions with public and private-sector decision makers. STEP bridges the disciplines of business management, engineering, economics, and the social sciences to bring diverse expertise to bear on pressing public policy questions. The members of the STEP Board* and the NRC staff are listed below:
Paul L. Joskow, Chair
President
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Lewis W. Coleman
President & CFO
DreamWorks Animation
Alan M. Garber (IOM)
Henry J. Kaiser, Jr. Professor
Professor of Medicine
Director, Center for Primary
Care and Outcomes Research
Stanford University
Ralph E. Gomory (NAS/NAE)
Research Professor
Stern School of Business
New York University and President Emeritus
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Mary L. Good (NAE)
Donaghey University Professor
Dean, Donaghey College of
Engineering and Information Technology
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Amory Houghton, Jr.
Former Member of Congress
William F. Meehan III
Lecturer in Strategic Management
Raccoon Partners Lecturer in Management
Stanford University and
Director Emeritus
McKinsey and Co., Inc.
David T. Morgenthaler
Founding Partner
Morgenthaler Ventures
*As of May 2010
Joseph P. Newhouse (IOM)
John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy and Management Harvard Medical School
Edward E. Penhoet (IOM)
Director
Alta Partners
Arati Prabhakar
General Partner
U.S. Venture Partners
William J. Raduchel
Chairman
Opera Software ASA
Jack W. Schuler
Partner
Crabtree Partners
Laura D’Andrea Tyson
S.K. and Angela Chan Professor of Global Management
Haas School of Business
University of California, Berkeley
Alan Wm. Wolff
Of Counsel
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP
STEP Staff *
Stephen A. Merrill
Executive Director
McAlister T. Clabaugh
Program Officer
David S. Dawson
Sr. Project Assistant
David E. Dierksheide
Program Officer
Charles W. Wessner
Program Director
Adam H. Gertz
Program Associate (through June 2010)
Daniel Mullins
Program Associate
Sujai J. Shivakumar
Senior Program Officer
*As of November 2010
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CONTENTS
Charles Wessner, The National Academies
Alan Wm. Wolff, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP
Ren Weimin, National Development and Reform Commission
Building Global Partnerships: Opportunities in U.S.-China Cooperation
Anna Borg, U.S. Department of State
Panel I Building the New Energy Economy
Moderator: Michael Borrus, X/Seed Capital Management
New Renewable Energy Initiatives in the United States
Kristina M. Johnson, U.S. Department of Energy
Renewable Energy Policy in China
Ren Weimin, National Development and Reform Commission
Panel II Innovation Clusters and the 21st Century University
Moderator: Carl Dahlman, Georgetown University
Universities, Science Parks, and Clusters in China’s Innovation Ecosystem
Lou Jing Ministry of Education
Universities and the U.S. Innovation System
Charles Vest, National Academy of Engineering
Universities as Drivers of Growth in the United States
C. D. Mote, Jr., University of Maryland, College Park
U.S. Initiatives for Building Innovation Clusters
Ginger Lew, National Economic Council
Panel III ICT and Innovation: Growth Engine and Enabling Technologies
Moderator: Dan Breznitz, Georgia Institute of Technology
Impact of Broadband on Economic Growth and Productivity
Chen Ying, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
Broadband Strategy in the United states
Eugene J. Huang, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
ICT Development in U.S. and Chinese Contexts
Mark E. Dean, IBM Research
Panel IV New Frontiers: Opportunities & Challenges for Cooperation
Moderator: Bill Bonvillian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
International Collaboration and Indigenous Innovation
Yang Xianwu, Ministry of Science and Technology
Joint U.S.-China Medical Research Opportunities
Anna Barker, National Cancer Institute
National Laboratories and International Cooperation
Robin L. Newmark, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Lessons Learned and Next Steps
Moderator: Michael Borrus X/Seed Capital Management
Recognizing that a capacity to innovate and commercialize new high-technology products is increasingly a part of the international competition for economic leadership, governments around the world are taking active steps to strengthen their national innovation systems. These steps underscore the widely held belief that the rising costs and risks associated with new potentially high-payoff technologies, and the growing global dispersal of technical expertise, require national R&D programs to support new and existing high-technology firms within their borders.
What is the impact of these initiatives for the competitive position of the United States? In a recent report, the National Academies warned that “this nation must prepare with great urgency to preserve its strategic and economic security,” adding that “the United States must compete by optimizing its knowledge-based resources, particularly in science and technology, and by sustaining the most fertile environment for new and revitalized industries and the well-paying jobs they bring.”1
Understanding the policies that other nations are pursuing to become more innovative and to what effect is essential to understanding how the nature and terms of economic competition are shifting.2 U.S. policymakers would benefit from knowing of the wide variety of
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1National Academy of Sciences/National Academy of Engineering/Institute of Medicine, Rising Above the Gathering Strom: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Future, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2007.
2Kent Hughes has argued in this regard that the challenges of the 21st century require new strategies that take account of new technologies, new global competitors, as well as new national priorities concerning national security and the environment. See Kent Hughes, Building the Next American Century: The Past and Future of American Economic Competitiveness, Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2005, Chapter 14.
innovation and competitiveness policies that leading nations have adopted. In the case of China, these innovation policies are designed to rapidly build research capacities to acquire knowledge and to transition that knowledge to national companies as a means of supporting domestic growth and employment and of building national strength.
The Overall Project
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 and improving national competitiveness is to improve the operation of the national innovation system. This involves national technology development and innovation programs designed to support research on new technologies, enhance the commercial return on national research, and facilitate the production of globally competitive products.
Here is the full Statement of Task for the project: Recognizing the importance of targeted government promotional policies relative to innovation, the Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) is studying selected foreign innovation programs and comparing them with major U.S. programs. This analysis of Comparative Innovation Policy, carried out under the direction of an ad hoc Committee, includes a review of the goals, concept, structure, operation, funding levels, and evaluation of foreign programs designed to advance the innovation capacity of national economies and enhance their international competitiveness.
This analysis focuses on key areas of future growth, such as renewable energy, among others, to generate case-specific recommendations where appropriate. The Committee will assess foreign programs using a standard template, convene a series of meetings to gather data from responsible officials and program managers, 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. programs.
The Context of the Project
Since 1991 the STEP Board has undertaken a program of activities to improve policy makers’ understanding of the interconnections among science, technology, and economic policy and their importance to the American economy and its international competitive position. The
Board’s interest in comparative innovation policies derives directly from its mandate.
This mandate has previously been reflected in STEP’s widely cited volume, U.S. Industry in 2000, which assesses the determinants of competitive performance in a wide range of manufacturing and service industries, including those relating to information technology.3 The Board also undertook a major study, chaired by Gordon Moore of Intel, on how government-industry partnerships can support the growth and commercialization of productivity enhancing technologies.4 Reflecting a growing recognition of the importance of the surge in productivity since 1995, the Board also launched a multifaceted assessment, exploring the sources of growth, measurement challenges, and the policy framework required to sustain the New Economy.5
The current study on Comparative Innovation Policy builds on STEP’s experience to bring together leading academics, public officials, business representatives, and policy experts to better identify current trends and challenge in U.S. and foreign innovation programs.
Project Activities
To open its analysis, the study Committee held an overview symposium that drew together leading academics, policy analysts, and senior policymakers from around the globe to describe their national innovation programs and policies, outline their objectives, and highlight
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3National Research Council, U.S. Industry in 2000: Studies in Competitive Performance, David C. Mowery, ed., Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999.
4This summary of a multi-volume study provides the Moore Committee’s analysis of best practices among key U.S. public-private partnerships. See National Research Council, Government-Industry Partnerships for the Development of New Technologies: Summary Report, Charles W. Wessner, ed., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003. For a list of U.S. partnership programs, see Christopher Coburn and Dan Berglund, Partnerships: A Compendium of State and Federal Cooperative Programs, Columbus, OH: Battelle Press, 1995.
5National Research Council, Enhancing Productivity Growth in the Information Age: Measuring and Sustaining the New Economy, Dale W. Jorgenson and Charles W. Wessner, eds., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2007.
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6For a summary of this conference, see National Research Council, Innovation Policies for the 21st Century, Charles W. Wessner, ed., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2007.
7For a summary of this conference, see National Research Council, India’s Changing Innovation System: Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities for Cooperation, Charles W. Wessner and Sujai J. Shivakumar, eds., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2007.
8The report has garnered considerable national and international attention. See National Research Council, Understanding Research, Science, and Technology Parks: Global Best Practices-Report of a Symposium. Charles W. Wessner, ed., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2009.
consensus report that provides recommendations for U.S. innovation policy for the 21st Century.
This Workshop Summary
This report captures the presentations and discussions of the 2010 STEP symposium on U.S.-China Cooperation on Science, Technology, and Innovation. It includes an introduction highlighting key issues raised at the meeting and summary of the meeting’s presentations. This workshop summary has been prepared by the workshop rapporteur as a factual summary of what occurred at the workshop. The planning committee’s role was limited to planning and convening the workshop. The statements made are those of the rapporteur or individual workshop participants and do not necessarily represent the views of all workshop participants, the planning committee, or the National Academies.
Acknowledgments
On behalf of the National Academies, we express our appreciation and recognition for the insights, experiences, and perspectives made available by the participants of this meeting. We are indebted to Pete Engardio for preparing the introduction and summary of the meeting. We are also indebted to Sujai Shivakumar of the STEP staff for his work on the review of this report.
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Academies’ Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for quality and objectivity. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: William Bonvillian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Washington, DC; Dieter Ernst, East-West Center; Patrick Keating, Stanford University; and Mu Rongping, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of
the report, nor did they see the final draft before its release. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the rapporteur and the institution.
Alan Wm. Wolff |
Charles W. Wessner |