National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

MEETING GLOBAL CHALLENGES

German-U.S. Innovation Policy

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, DC.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS     500 Fifth Street, NW     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. 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 National Institute of Standards and Technology of 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. 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.

International Standard Book Number 13: 978-0-309-26359-7
International Standard Book Number 10: 0-309-26359-X

Additional copies of this report are available for sale from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu/ .

Copyright 2012 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

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.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

Committee on
Comparative National Innovation Policies:
Best Practice for the 21st Century*

Alan Wm. Wolff, Chair

Senior Counsel

McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP

and

STEP Board

Michael G. Borrus

Founding General Partner

X/Seed Capital Management

Gail H. Cassell (IOM)

Visiting Professor

Department of Global Health and Social Medicine

Harvard Medical School

Carl J. Dahlman

Henry R. Luce Associate Professor

Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

Georgetown University

Charles K. Ebinger

Director, Energy Security Initiative

Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy

The Brookings Institution

Mary L. Good (NAE), Vice Chair

Dean Emeritus, Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology

Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Economic Development

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

and

STEP Board

Kent H. Hughes

Director

Program on America and the Global Economy

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Gregory Kats

President

Capital E



*As of June 2012.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

Project Staff

Charles W. Wessner

Study Director

Alan H. Anderson

Consultant

McAlister T. Clabaugh

Program Officer

Sujai J. Shivakumar

Senior Program Officer

David S. Dawson

Senior Program Assistant

David E. Dierksheide

Program Officer

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

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 Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy is to advise federal, state, and local governments and inform the public about economic and related public policies to promote the creation, diffusion, and application of new scientific and technical knowledge to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the U.S. economy and foster economic prosperity for all Americans. The STEP Board and its committees marshal research and the expertise of scholars, industrial managers, investors, and former public officials in a wide range of policy areas that affect the speed and direction of scientific and technological change and their contributions to the growth of the U.S. and global economies. Results are communicated through reports, conferences, workshops, briefings, and electronic media subject to the procedures of the National Academies to ensure their authoritativeness, independence, and objectivity. The members of the STEP Board* and the NRC staff are listed below:

Paul L. Joskow, Chair

President

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Ernst R. Berndt

Louis E. Seley Professor in Applied Economics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

John Donovan

Chief Technology Officer

AT&T Inc.

Alan M. Garber (IOM)

Provost Harvard University

Ralph E. Gomory (NAS/NAE)

Research Professor

Stern School of Business

New York University

Mary L. Good (NAE)

Dean Emeritus, Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology

Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Economic Development

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

William H. Janeway

Partner

Warburg Pincus, LLC

Richard K. Lester

Japan Steel Industry Professor

Head, Nuclear Science and Engineering

Founding Director, Industrial Performance Center

Massachusetts Institute of Technology


*As of June 2012.

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

William F. Meehan III

Lecturer in Strategic Management Raccoon Partners Lecturer in Management

Graduate School of Business Stanford University

and

Director Emeritus

McKinsey and Co., Inc.

David T. Morgenthaler

Founding Partner

Morgenthaler Ventures

Arati Prabhakar

Atherton, CA

Luis M. Proenza

President

The University of Akron

William J. Raduchel

Chairman

Opera Software ASA

Kathryn L. Shaw

Ernest C. Arbuckle Professor of Economics

Graduate School of Business

Stanford University

Laura D’Andrea Tyson

S.K. and Angela Chan Professor of Global Management

Haas School of Business

University of California, Berkeley

Harold R. Varian

Chief Economist Google, Inc.

Alan Wm. Wolff

Senior Counsel

McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP

STEP Staff

Stephen A. Merrill

Executive Director

Paul T. Beaton

Program Officer

McAlister T. Clabaugh

Program Officer

Aqila A. Coulthurst

Program Coordinator

Charles W. Wessner

Program Director

David S. Dawson

Senior Program Assistant

David E. Dierksheide

Program Officer

Sujai J. Shivakumar

Senior Program Officer

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page xiii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

Preface

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 Reinforcing this message, a new report by the National Academies describes the growth in foreign programs and investments in new technologies and industries while noting the decline in support at home for the traditional pillars of U.S. competitiveness. 2 The report urges steps to ensure that products derived from U.S. innovation are manufactured in the United States, so as to capture the economic activity and the high-quality jobs that they can bring.

Understanding the policies that other nations are pursuing to support their industries and to what effect is essential to understanding how the nature and terms of economic competition are shifting.3 U.S. policymakers would

_____________________________

1National Academy of Sciences/National Academy of Engineering/Institute of Medicine, Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Future, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2007, p. 4.

2National Research Council, Rising to the Challenge: U.S. Innovation Policy for the Global Economy, C. Wessner and A. Wm. Wolff, eds., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2012.

3The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kent 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,

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

benefit from knowing of the wide variety of innovation and competitiveness policies that leading nations have adopted. In the case of Germany, these innovation policies support industrial production and technology research through consistent investments in applied research programs buttressed by programs for job training and worker retention. German organizations such as the Fraunhofer Institutes partner with companies to turn advanced technologies into production processes and commercial products. These initiatives are coupled with active export promotion support from the highest level of government.

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.

The formal Statement of Task for the overall project states: 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

_____________________________

Building the Next American Century: The Past and Future of American Economic Competitiveness, Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2005, Chapter 14.

Page xvii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

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 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 that occurred in the mid-nineties, the Board also launched a multifaceted assessment, exploring the sources of growth, measurement challenges, and the policy framework required to sustain what was then characterized as the information and communications technology driven 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 from around the world to identify current trends and challenge faced by 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 their achievements.6 Major conferences in Taipei and Tokyo focused on the evolution of the Taiwanese and Japanese innovation systems over the past decade.7 The Committee also convened a major conference in Washington that identified current trends in the Indian and U.S. innovation systems and highlighted the emerging U.S.—India innovation partnership.8

_____________________________

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. See also National Research Council, U.S. Industry in 2000: Studies in Comparative Performance, David Mowery, ed., Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999.

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.

6For a summary of this conference, see National Research Council, Innovation Policies for the 21st Century—Report of a Symposium, Charles W. Wessner, ed., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2007.

7For a summary of the Tokyo conference, see National Research Council, 21st Century Innovation Systems for Japan and the United States: Lessons from a Decade of Change, S. Nagaoka, M. Kondo, K. Flamm, and C. Wessner, eds., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2009.

8For 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.

Page xviii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

This was soon followed by a symposium on “Synergies in Regional and National Innovation Policies in the Global Economy” hosted by Flanders Vice Minister Fientje Moerman. This event reviewed the synergies and success of regional innovation policies in Flanders, buttressed by national and European Union programs. Flanders benefits from major university and research centers with strong commercialization records, and is also home to imec, one of the leading microelectronics research facilities in the world and arguably the flagship of Flemish technology policy.9 To address a growing opportunity in U.S. S&T cooperation with Europe, the Committee hosted a series of meetings to review the potential for greater U.S.-Polish cooperation in science and innovation, with particular attention to traditional energy sources (e.g., coal) and health. In a related effort, a major international symposium was convened to review national strategies to foster the development of science and technology research parks, with representatives from around the world.10

In light of China’s surging investments in science and new technologies, a number of meetings on China’s innovation policies were convened, beginning with a symposium in May 2010 in Washington, DC, on U.S.-China Cooperation on Science, Technology, and Innovation that drew together speakers primarily from the U.S. and Chinese governments and academia.11 This was followed in June 2011 with a series of meetings in Shanghai and Beijing that included U.S. and Chinese corporate leaders and leading Chinese academic researchers. These interactions were capped by a September 2011 symposium in Washington, DC, on U.S.-China Policy for Science, Technology, and Innovation.

Germany’s renewed focus on investments in R&D and education, worker retention and training, as well as its strong support for exports suggest opportunities for mutual learning and expanded cooperation. Accordingly, the Committee convened in 2010 a conference in Washington, DC, on Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy. A second large conference was then organized in cooperation with the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin in 2011. This volume summarizes that conference. It examined U.S. and German approaches to support innovation and manufacturing both in terms of institutional support (e.g., by the Fraunhofer Institutes) and in specific sectors such as bio-medical, electric vehicle and solar technologies.

These two conferences highlighted the value of policy dialogue and cooperation on innovation for Germany and the United States. Both countries

_____________________________

9National Research Council, Innovative Flanders: Innovation Policies for the 21st Century—Report of a Symposium, C. Wessner, ed., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2008.

10This 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, C. Wessner, ed., Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2009.

11For a summary of this conference, see National Research Council, Building the 21st Century, U.S.China Cooperation on Science, Technology, and Innovation—Summary of a Symposium, C. Wessner, rapporteur, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2011.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

seek to better translate research into innovations and innovations into successful products. Further, both countries can benefit through cooperation in addressing the “grand challenges” we face today, including those in climate, energy production, health, and security. The conferences underscored the opportunity for Germany and the United States to learn from each other and to gain by cooperating more actively with each other.

Drawing together the information and insights from this series of meetings, the Committee developed a consensus report that provides an overview of the changing international environment and offers a wide range of recommendations to support more effective U.S. innovation policies for the future.12

THIS WORKSHOP SUMMARY

This report captures the presentations and discussions of the 2011 Berlin symposium on Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy. It includes an introduction highlighting key issues raised at the meeting and summary of the meeting’s presentations. This summary has been prepared by a 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, the DIW, or the U.S. 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 greatly indebted to Klaus Zimmerman of IZA (the Institute of the Study of Labor) and then head of the DIW-Berlin, for his leadership and initiative as well as to Jens Schmidt-Ehmcke, who played an instrumental role in the organization of the conference and the identification of the many high-level German participants.

We are most grateful for the support and participation of U.S. Ambassador Murphy and his able staff and to Englebert Beyer of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for his leadership, support, and substantive contributions to this cooperative German-American event.

We would like to express our thanks to Alan Anderson for preparing the initial overview and summary of the meeting in a very short timeframe. We also thank Sujai Shivakumar and David Dierksheide of the STEP staff for their work on the review and production of this report and recognize the efforts of

_____________________________

12National Research Council, Rising to the Challenge: U.S. Innovation Policy for the Global Economy, C. Wessner and A. Wm. Wolff, eds., op. cit.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×

McAlister Clabaugh and David Dawson for their assistance in organizing this international conference.

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: David Audretsch, Indiana University; Erik Lehmann, Augsburg University; Andreas Pinkwart, HHL-Leipzig Graduate School of Management; Jens Schmidt-Ehmcke, Hasso Plattner Ventures Management; and Klaus Zimmerman, University of Bonn.

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

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R1
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R5
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R6
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R7
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R8
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R10
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R11
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R12
Page xiii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R13
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R14
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R15
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R16
Page xvii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R17
Page xviii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R18
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R19
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13488.
×
Page R20
Next: I: OVERVIEW »
Meeting Global Challenges: German-U.S. Innovation Policy: Summary of a Symposium Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $49.00 Buy Ebook | $39.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

While nations have always competed for territory, mineral riches, water, and other physical assets, they compete most vigorously today for technology-based innovations and the value that flows from them. Much of this value is based on creating scientific knowledge and transforming it into new products and services for the market. This process of innovation is complex and interdisciplinary. Sometimes it draws on the genius of individuals, but even then it requires sustained collective effort, often underpinned by significant national investments. Capturing the value of these investments to spur domestic economic growth and employment is a challenge in a world where the outputs of innovation disseminate rapidly. Those equipped to understand, apply, and profit from new knowledge and technical advances are increasingly able to capture the long-term economic benefits of growth and employment.

In response to this new, more distributed innovation paradigm, the National Academies Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) convened leading academics, business leaders, and senior policymakers from Germany and the United States to examine the strengths and challenges of their innovation systems. More specifically, they met to compare their respective approaches to innovation, to learn from their counterparts about best practices and shared challenges, and to identify cooperative opportunities. The symposium was held in Berlin and organized jointly by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) and the U.S. National Academies with support of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and the American Embassy in Berlin.

Both U.S. and German participants described common challenges on a wide variety of issues ranging from energy security and climate change to low-emissions transportation, early-stage financing, and workforce training. While recognizing their differences in approach to these challenges, participants on both sides drew out valuable lessons from each other's policies and practices. Participants were also aware of the need to adapt to a new global environment where many countries have focused new policy measures and new resources to support innovative firms and promising industries. Meeting Global Challenges: U.S.-German Innovation Policy reviews the participants meeting and sets goals and recommendations for future policy.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!