More research and development funding is essential to ensuring U.S. competitiveness, claimed the more than 55 corporate CEOs, university presidents and scientists who participated in the Dec. 6 day-long National Summit on Competitiveness.
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President John Engler spoke at the Washington, D.C. summit and referenced the recently released 2005 Skills Gap Report by NAM and Deloitte Consulting. "Increasingly, U.S. companies are unable to find the skills and talent they need while some developing nations now turn out more engineers than we do each year," said Engler.
"China and India are racing to climb the technology ladder," Engler added. "We must recognize that we're in that race, too, and we have to run smarter if we are to maintain our high standard of living and our global leadership."
In the "Statement of the National Summit on Competitiveness", information regarding R&D investment by other countries include the following:
- China has doubled its investment in R&D as a percentage of gross national product from 0.6% in 1995 to 1.2% in 2002.
- More than one-third of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have increased government support for R&D by an average rate of 5% annually over the past seven years.
To view the report and other information about the summit visit www.usinnovation.org
