Science and R&D

Join ITIF for an event to discuss the recent ITIF report that benchmarks national innovation policies and analyzes what the United States can learn from the worlds’ ten most innovation-forward countries.

The ideal fiscal stimulus measure not only creates jobs and drives economic activity in the short run but also boosts quality of life and economic growth in the medium and long run. Support for scientific research in the stimulus package accomplishes both goals. In this report, ITIF finds that spurring an additional $20 billion investment in our national research infrastructure will create or retain approximately 402,000 American jobs for one year.

Many forward-thinking countries have made innovation-led economic development a centerpiece of their national economic strategies during the past decade. While many nations have taken the innovation challenge to heart and put in place a host of policies to spur innovation, the United States has done little, consequently falling behind in innovation policies and risking falling behind in innovation performance as well. This article compares U.S. innovation policy to that of other leading industrialized countries across five topic areas: programs to establish civilian technology and innovation promotion agencies; services innovation initiatives; national levels of R&D funding; tax incentives for research and development; and policies regarding high-skill immigration.

This blog post reviews findings of a recent academic study on the low numbers of women in advanced mathematics programs, citing a need “to make math cool again” to spur U.S. competitiveness, because now doing mathematics for fun is “deemed uncool within the social context of USA middle and high schools…and can lead to social ostracism.”