themes and the significant amounts of resources which 

 they command. At the same time, formal procedures 

 for multiagency planning techniques are a relatively 

 new development, still clearly undergoing modifica- 

 tion. Multiagency programs offer great potential for 

 improving coordination across organizational lines, 

 but they made create significant problems if merely 

 superimposed on the traditional branch planning struc- 

 ture. Soviet authorities recognize the importance of 

 careful integration of program and branch assignments 

 to avoid sending conflicting signals to the perform- 

 ing facility. Evidence is still fragmentary concern- 

 ing evaluation of the scope of application and manage- 

 ment of multiagency programs; therefore, it is unclear 

 whether the significant benefits of such programs are 

 being fully realized. It is also too early to tell 

 the extent to which the shift from coordination plans 

 to integrated programs overcomes some of the faulty 

 systems planning and management of the past. 



THE DECISION TO IMPORT TECHNOLOGY 



Though the Soviet Union has long imported technol- 

 ogy and machinery from abroad, the decision to ac- 

 quire foreign technology was not made until recently 

 an explicit and integral feature of R&D policy plan- 

 ning. A number of Soviet surveys conducted in the 

 mid-1960s disclosed that few research institutes pos- 

 sessed, much less used, comparative data on foreign 

 technology and Soviet products. 11 ^ During the spring 

 meeting of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1965, it 

 was noted that many of the items included in the plan 

 for new technology and slated for development by 1970 

 could, in fact, already be bought from the United 

 States, Japan, and Great Britain. 11 ^ At this time 

 little attention was given to the purchase of foreign 

 patents and licenses or, for that matter, to the pro- 

 tection of Soviet inventions abroad. Only in July 

 1965 did the USSR begin to adhere to the Paris Conven- 

 tion for the protection of international property. In 

 general, the idea that it may be cheaper and more ef- 



149 



