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The government also must maintain a core of applied scientists whose work 

 serves as a bridge between the problem-solving efforts of private firms and the 

 research efforts of basic scientists. Government can and should sustain those areas 

 of science and technology that support inherent government missions, such as 

 national defense, technical standards setting, regulation, or public health. In these 

 areas, publicly funded scientists and engineers can take a discovery — such as a new 

 class of high-temperature superconductors — out of the laboratory of a private firm 

 and move it quickly onto the agenda for inquiry in basic physics. Or they can take a 

 new technology and use it — applying it to nuclear waste cleanup, developing vac- 

 cines for U.S. troops headed abroad, or defining the exact length of a meter or a 

 second with the greatest precision available at the time. 



Federal funding for science and technology development also helps educate 

 and train not only those scientists and engineers who continue on to perform re- 

 search and development in both the public and private sectors, but also those 

 whose work involves making technically informed management decisions about 

 corporate strategy and finance. The history of technological advance throughout 

 this century points to an abiding truth: "The primary function of universities is to 

 give students the intellectual underpinnings to contribute as professionals in our 

 society."' 



Federal Support for Basic Research Continues to Be Essential 



Just as government support for applied science and technology development 

 remains a wise investment, so also is continuing investment in basic science essen- 

 tial to future innovation and progress.'" Innovation now occurs too rapidly for one 

 player to wait until another's job is done. Research and development are not sepa- 

 rate, serial activities, but parallel and interdependent. New knowledge is most 

 useful to people and institutions that see it first and can exploit it quickly, and that 

 have ready access to those who discover it. The ability to identify technological 

 opportunities emerging from research is now a principal factor determining success 

 in many industrial sectors. The increased importance of science in high-growth 

 areas of the world economy puts a premium on strong linkages between science 

 and technoiog}', and makes innovation far more difficult without a strong indigenous 

 science base. This circumstance underscores the importance of federal support for 

 the science and technology base as the main source of "patient capital" that builds 

 knowledge and supports all firms. Continuing federal support for basic research is 

 the foremost recommendation of those in industry itself. ' ' 



Today, the product cycle is contracting in high-technology sectors throughout 

 the world. Software applications may be replaced after a year or two, and a com- 

 puter model every three or four years. Private firms are driven by short-term market 

 needs and demands for quick returns on science and technology investments. They 

 must focus on improving existing products. Communications and computing were 

 once the province of monopolies and near-monopolies that no longer exist because 

 of federal policy and international competition. With a few exceptions, such as 

 pharmaceuticals where patent protection is strong, support for science and technol- 

 ogy that will not return benefits quickly is becoming more difficult to justify in the 



