The Science and Technology Action Committee (STAC), a blue ribbon panel of leaders in science policy, launched “Vision for American Science & Technology (VAST),” a brief, nonpartisan document that offers a vision of a future in which American science and technology can continue to serve the country.
“Without a strong compass and rapid action, America’s primacy in science and technology will be lost and we will be unable to confront rising threats to our security, our prosperity and our well-being,” the report reads.
Neal Lane, senior fellow in science and technology policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is one of 25 members serving on the STAC panel. Previously, Lane served in the federal government as assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from August 1998 to January 2001, and he served as director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and member of the National Science Board from October 1993 to August 1998. Before his post with NSF, Lane was provost and professor of physics at Rice, a position he had held since 1986.
“VAST charts a way for science and technology to support the U.S.’s continued global leadership and draws from the collective insights and experiences of an unprecedented array of science and technology leaders,” Lane said. “For decades and decades, the U.S. has been committed to exploring the unknown and driving innovation — incentivized by forward-focused investments in fundamental discovery research.”
Lane and the report emphasize that this innovation has relied on the “uniquely American” cooperation between government, private industry and entrepreneurs, academia, philanthropy and capital markets as well as intellectual property protections. Yet the country is at a crossroads. “The pace of change is accelerating so rapidly that the tools and strategies that brought us here are insufficient to ensure our future,” the report reads.
The vision, according to VAST, is for an “all-of-America” science and technology enterprise that integrates contributions from federal, state and local governments, industry and education to drive national innovation and prosperity. The goal is to build a flexible, collaborative and sustainable science and technology enterprise that drives economic growth and addresses key national and global issues.
VAST proposes that the federal government will set research priorities, minimize administrative burdens and create policies that stimulate innovation. State and local governments will foster pro-innovation environments and support education and infrastructure. Industry will advance research and bring products to market, generating jobs and reinvesting in research and development. STEM workers will push forward discovery and innovation, while high-quality education prepares students to meet global challenges. Capital and philanthropies will invest in growth and high-risk fields. With this, the nation will lead in science and technology, ensuring benefits for all Americans with a focus on collaboration, global competitiveness and addressing critical challenges like health, energy and security.
“We believe that the U.S. can reclaim its leadership in innovation by fostering collaboration across sectors, eliminating redundancies and incentivizing innovation,” Lane said. “To unlock the country’s full scientific and technological potential, we must reduce inefficiencies and break down barriers hindering progress. This requires accelerating successes at state and regional levels and combining the strengths of the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Currently, investments and talent are siloed, which hinders innovation.”
Key actions of the plan include optimizing tax policies, strengthening research and development tax credits, boosting public-private partnerships and enhancing technology transfer. Streamlining funding processes and reducing administrative burdens will also maximize the impact of science and technology investments, according to the report.
“The country needs to invest strategically in fundamental discovery research, applied research and research infrastructure,” Lane said. “These are the building blocks for the innovation and leadership that is vital to America’s national security, competitiveness and well-being. And there is strong bipartisan support for fundamental — or basic — research that advances our knowledge.”
The work of VAST was made possible by grants to STAC, which is housed at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Research!America. Additional in-kind support was provided by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. View the full report here.
Written by Avery Ruxer Franklin for Rice News.
