46 



IMl'RO] VW, THi; M.IOCA TIOS PROCESS / 21 



be more difficult than collaborations among colleagues located at different institu- 

 tions but working in the same field. Those who pioneer new fields or attempt to 

 bridge research interests among departments or whose work centers on collabora- 

 tion with other universities, federal laboratories, or industn,' may risk not being 

 funded or may encoimter difficulties in securing space and other resources. 



In some research universities and centers, research has overshadowed the 

 educational mission. In respon.sc. many universities are placing new emphasis on 

 contributions to education as a criterion in promotion and tenure decisions and are 

 creating interdisciplinary centers that cross traditional departmental boundaries. 

 Indirect costs have been a source of contention between government and universi- 

 ties for many years. Because of budgetary pressures and public concern, however, 

 uni\crsities are working with government to reduce costs, including holding down 

 indirect costs and modih ing government regulations that can drive them higher 



RECOMMENDATION 8. The federal government should encour- 

 age, but not directly fund, private-sector commercial technology 

 development, with two limited exceptions: 



• Development in pursuit of government missions, such as 

 weapons development and spaceflight; or 



• Development of new enabling, or broadly applicable, tech- 

 nologies for which government is the only funder available. 



The federal government has long sponsored research and education as a 

 means of developing technologies for its own use and has also encouraged the 

 de\ elopment of state-of-the-art technologies in its capacitv' as a customer The 

 histories of the development of airframes and aircraft engines, missiles and .satellites. 

 ad\ anced materials, semiconductors, and computers are replete with examples of 

 federal procurement and research support that have contributed to the creation of 

 commercialh important technology. Indeed, the government was the first pur- 

 cha.ser of key pieces of equipment used to build the components of what has be- 

 come the Internet."' Roth FS&T fimding and federal procurement will continue to 

 be important in these and other emerging growth sectors linked to federal missions 

 such as health and environmental cleanup. In the future, however, fimding for the 

 nation s science and technology base ma\ contribute more to stimulating new 

 sectors of economic growth than will federal procurement and the "demand pull" 

 on an emerging technology. 



Even before the end of the Cold War high-technology spin-offs from federalh' 

 funded R&D in defense and space had diminished. Efforts have been under way for 

 some time to foster the development of dual-use technologies or to u.se off-the-shelf 

 commercial technologies in federal programs that develop products for government 

 use. In man> cases, civilian applications have now surpassed military ones. 



As the Academies C^ommittee on .Science, Engineering, and Public Policy 

 pointed out in its 199.^ report. U.S. leadership in high-technology markets cannot be 

 achieved or maintained primarily through federal actions.*' Commercial technology 



