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Future R&D Environments A Report for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (2002) / Chapter Skim
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5 Conclusions
Pages 63-68

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From page 63...
... The report includes many examples of promising research advances and technological developments. Many of the most significant advances stem from the intensifying and synergistic convergence among nominally disparate fields.
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From page 64...
... Given that central corporate research is likely to continue to decline and that intense competitive pressures will continue to build for technology-based industries, the government must foster longterm and fundamental research across the broad frontiers of science and technology. Industry for its part must continue to recognize the critical value of academic research in enriching the base of fundamental knowledge on which it depends and the role of the government in supplying long-term support, or "patient capital." It will also be important for graduate education to be designed so that it equips new researchers to embark on satisfying careers and gives them the ability to respond quickly to new research opportunities, especially in interdisciplinary settings.
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From page 65...
... These problems create needs such as better technologies for aging and increasingly urban populations, economic development that is sustainable and internationally competitive, new sources of energy and improved energy efficiency, environmental protection and restoration, ways of coping with global climate change, education for a knowledge-based economy and a technically literate polity, and prevention and treatment of infectious and chronic diseases. The events of September 11 and the subsequent mailings of anthrax spores to public figures have sharply heightened the demand for better ways to prevent and recover from acts of terronsm, which will no doubt substantially affect the direction of research and technology development in a broad range of fields.
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From page 66...
... For a statement of the need to ensure that the federal research portfolio matches national priorities and, in the face of uncertainty, also invests broadly in all areas of research, see National Research Council, Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, Trends in Federal Support of Research and Graduate Education. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2001, and National Research Council, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, Observations on the President's Fiscal Year 2002 Federal Science and Technology Budget.
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From page 67...
... True synergy requires proper linkages between these various institutions rather than a blurring of their distinct purposes, and U.S. society is most likely to benefit from technological advances when each of the institutions involved in the innovation system functions effectively and in balance with the others.
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Key Terms

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  • technological innovation
  • true synergy
  • nourishing climate
  • improved energy

  • effective interchange
  • increasingly global
  • doubt substantially
  • federal science
  • provide various

  • various institutions
  • public figures
  • increased capacity
  • facilitate multidisciplinary
  • promising approach

  • extraordinarily robust
  • setting priorities
  • central corporate
  • changed setting
  • examined extremely

  • social pressures
  • nominally disparate
  • recommends policies
  • expanding opportunities
  • advances stem

  • rapid genetic
  • basic field
  • invests broadly
  • disciplinary boundaries
  • technical literacy


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