The Role of Public Agencies in Fostering New Technology and Innovation in Building (1992) / Chapter Skim
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4. What Should the Role of the Federal Government Be in Fostering New Building Technology?
4. What Should the Role of the Federal Government Be in Fostering New Building Technology?
Pages 47-56
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From page 47... ...
The committee noted, however, that regardless of aggregate trends, the geographic distribution of the nation's population is likely to continue shifting. The substantial capital stock of public facilities will continue to provide vital support for the private sector's activities and will need maintenance and periodic refurbishment.
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From page 48... ...
The Department of Commerce and the Office of Science and Technology Policy share executive branch concern for Me nation's technology and industrial competitiveness, but seldom address issues of construction and facilities.32 In addition, there is little basis for communication among the agencies that undertake construction or manage facilities as accessories to their primary missions and the policy-oriented 32A major exception is the focus on We construction industries of Japan and the United States in trade negotiations of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
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From page 49... ...
In Me late 1970s and early 1980s, shipbuilding underwent a ~quiet, relatively unpublicized transformations marked by increasing labor productivity and improved product quality (Marine Board, 1984~. The transformation was spurred by loss of competitive commercial shipbuilding awards to foreign shipyards and subsequent actions within the industry to learn why.
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From page 50... ...
Current events suggest that the proportions of federal agency construction budgets may, in the future, shift toward civilian facilities and decline in absolute terms for at least the next debacle. State and local governments could, in aggregate, experience substantial grown in construction for renewal of physical infrastructure, renovation and expansion of educational facilities, and accommodation of increased work loads associated with programs formerly administered at federal levels.
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From page 51... ...
The problems of public policy toward technological innovation are exceedingly complex, as illustrated by several potential paradoxes (David, 1986~. First, efforts to speed the rate of innovation in industries supplying capital goods may create expectations of more rapid obsolescence for those users who consider adopting new technology when it first appears, thus encouraging a "wa~t-and51
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From page 52... ...
industrial competitiveness in international markets. 34Problems such as building obsolescence and design actions that can be taken to avoid these problems are the subject of another Federal Construction Council-sponsored Building Research Board study.
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From page 53... ...
Increases in federal support for new building technology development in general would have to be substantial to make a significant impact on innovation rates overall. In the current political climate of stable government deficits at all levels and federal disengagement from activities that can be distributed to state or local levels, major grown in Finding for building-related R&D or demonstration projects seems unlikely.
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From page 55... ...
However, variations among agencies' missions and resources preclude adoption of a single prototype strategy for all agencies. The committee concluded that each agency must tailor activities to foster innovation to the specific characteristics of its programs.
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