DOC Releases Compendium of Foreign S&T Info Sources
The U.S. Department of Commerce has published a compendium of federal departments and agencies and private sector organizations that "monitor, collect, disseminate, or conduct analysis of information involving foreign science and technology." The compendium provides the only comprehensive listing of U.S. resources, both public and private, that maintain vital information on foreign S&T efforts.
For the first time in a single comprehensive document, the compendium details the U.S.-based resources on foreign S&T programs. It contains information on some 80 organizations, including nine U.S. Cabinet departments such as the Departments of Agriculture, State, and Commerce, six U.S. government agencies including EPA, NASA, and NSF, seven U.S. military service organizations, and six select private sector organizations including SEMATECH.
The compendium provides an overview of the "mandate, functions, and key contacts" of relevant U.S. federal and select private sector organizations. The compendium, jointly funded by the Departments of Commerce and State, seeks to "improve private sector understanding of and access to U.S.-based resources." As stated in the Executive Summary of the compendium, "[t]o compete effectively in global markets and to hold their own in the domestic market, U.S. companies and researchers need to track and remain current with foreign science and technology developments." The compendium is designed to mitigate the current problem that the private sector has in accessing foreign programs, publications, services, and expertise.
According to the two sponsoring departments--the Department of Commerce's Technology Administration and the Department of State's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs--the hope for the compendium is that U.S. companies and researchers will be able to draw on the resources compiled in the compendium to "widen their scope of opportunities for international licensing, technology trade events, developing intellectual property, potential R&D partnerships and joint ventures."
For a copy of the report or for more information, please contact the Department of Commerce's Office of Technology Policy at 202/482-3037