Utah State Joins Others in American Innovation Imperative Call to Action

Utah State University has joined scores of other organizations as well as leaders of American business, industry, higher education, science and engineering, in a call to action for stronger federal policies and investment to drive domestic research and development. Ten CEOs and 252 organizations signed the “Innovation: An American Imperative,” a document aimed at federal decision makers and legislators.  It underscores the findings The American Academy of Arts & Sciences report, Restoring the Foundation: The Vital Role of Research in Preserving the American Dream.

The CEOs who have signed on to the effort are:

• Samuel R. Allen, chairman & CEO, John Deere
• Norman R. Augustine, co-chair, Restoring the Foundation
• Wes Bush, Chairman, president & CEO, Northrop Grumman
• Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman & CEO, Merck & Co., Inc.
• Marillyn A. Hewson, chairman, president, & CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation
• Charles O. Holliday, chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc
• Joseph Jimenez, CEO, Novartis
• W. James McNerney, Jr., chairman of the board & CEO, The Boeing Company
• Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft
• Jay Timmons, president and CEO, National Association of Manufacturers

“There is a deficit between what America is investing and what it should be investing to remain competitive, not only in research but in innovation and job creation,” according to Restoring the Foundation.

The United States is failing to keep pace with competitor nations with regard to investments in basic research and development. America’s ascendency in the 20th century was due in large part — if not primarily — to its investments in science and engineering research. Basic research is behind every new product brought to market, every new medical device or drug, every new defense and space technology and many innovative business practices.

Over the last two decades, a steady decline in investment in research and development (R&D) in the United States has allowed the nation to fall to 10th place in R&D investment among Organization for Economic Co-operation and development (OECD) nations as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).

At this pace, China will surpass the United States in R&D intensity in about eight years.

These developments led a diverse coalition of those concerned with the future of research in America to join together in presenting the Innovation Imperative to federal policy makers and urging them to take action to:

• End sequestration’s deep cuts to federal investments in R&D
• Make permanent a strengthened federal R&D tax credit
• Improve student achievement in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM)
• Reform U.S. visa policy
• Streamline or eliminate costly and inefficient regulations
• Reaffirm merit-based peer review
• Stimulate further improvements in advanced manufacturing

Details on these action items, as well as a full list of signatories, are included in the full document, which is linked above and posted on the websites of each of the following organizations:

• American Academy of Arts & Sciences
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Association of American Universities
• Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
• Battelle
• Coalition for National Science Funding
• Coalition for National Security Research
• Council on Competitiveness
• Energy Sciences Coalition
• Task Force on American Innovation
• The Science Coalition

Contact: Eric Warren, Utah State University, (435) 881-8439, eric.warren@usu.edu