President Obama Outlines National Innovation Strategy

The Obama administration's interest in directing more federal support to innovation and research was evident very early in the President's first weeks in office with more than $100 billion of the Recovery Act funding going toward innovation, education and research infrastructure. Earlier this week, the National Economic Council and Office of Science & Technology Policy released a brief report presenting the guiding principles and priorities for the administration's innovation agenda.

"A Strategy for American Innovation: Driving toward Sustainable Growth and Quality Jobs" outlines three broad objectives, each with specific action items. While many of the goals of the plan have already received significant investments through the Recovery Act, there are several more initiatives that are still in the proposal stage or call for additional investments beyond the Recovery Act. Highlights include:

• Invest in the Building Blocks of American Innovation
  
  • Double the R&D budget of key science agencies (the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy's Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards & Technology);
  • Invest 3 percent of GDP in R&D including both the public and private sectors;
  • Make the research & experimentation tax credit permanent (expected cost is $75 billion annually);
  • Restore the U.S. to first in the world for college graduates ($200 billion over 10 years);
  • Triple the number of NSF Graduate Research Fellowships awarded in science and engineering;
  • Develop new career pathways in community college programs;
  • Design world-class online courses for post-secondary students through a ten-year, $500 million investment into community colleges;
  • Build an efficient high-speed rail network ($8 billion in Recovery Act, $1 billion annual budget request);
  • Develop the next generation of air traffic control based on satellite surveillance ($865 million in FY10 budget);
  • Assure net neutrality to preserve the freedom and openness in Internet access; and,
  • Support research for next-generation information and communication technology.
• Promote Competitive Markets that Spur Productive Entrepreneurship
  
  • Increase access to capital for new businesses, including eliminating the capital gains tax on small businesses;
  • Provide training and mentoring to entrepreneurs;
  • Create competitive communities by promoting regional innovation clusters;
  • Stimulate entrepreneurship through increased access to government data through portals like data.gov;
  • Use innovation to improve government programs at all levels of government;
  • Commit White House resources to scaling and promoting community innovations (FY10 budget request includes $50 million for a Social Innovation Fund);
  • Open markets abroad while enforcing trade agreements;
  • Protecting intellectual property rights;
  • Reform and modernize U.S. export controls; and,
  • Ensure working financial markets.
• Catalyze Breakthroughs for National Priorities
  
  • Double the nation's supply of renewable energy in the next three years;
  • Invest in clean energy innovation through a ten-year $150 billion fund for research, development and demonstration of clean energy technologies;
  • Enact a cap-and-trade program to curb oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions while spurring renewable energy technologies;
  • Create a Re-Energyse education campaign jointly run by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation to encourage young Americans to pursue clean energy careers; and,
  • Harness science and technology to address the "Grand Challenges" of the 21st century.

The National Innovation Strategy is available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nec/StrategyforAmericanInnovation/