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With federal R&D investments unlikely to keep pace with inflation or international competition based on the administration’s budget request, cuts to existing research grants, and Congress’s inability to pass a budget, business R&D investments become more critical for sustaining the competitiveness of regional innovation economies.

From 2022 to 2023, domestic R&D expenditures increased 4%, or $29 billion, but remained nearly unchanged when adjusted for inflation. This apparent slowdown follows a streak averaging nearly 12% ($59 billion) year-over-year growth from 2018 to 2022, and 8% over the past decade from 2014 to 2023. Adjusting for inflation paints a different picture of the growth trends, with a more modest annual average of 8% from 2018 to 2022 and 6% over the past decade.

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is requesting information from the public to help shape potential future updates to its Key Technology Focus Areas (KTFAs). NSF’s KTFAs directly influence and shape innovation- and economic development-related programs.

A recently published InfoChart from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) presents an annotated walk through federal R&D obligations from FY 1951 through 2024, explaining key events influencing key moments in the surges and downswings along the nation’s path to supporting discovery, research, development and innovation. The data is presented in constant 2017 dollars. 

The National Science Foundation, on behalf of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP), is providing the opportunity for public input toward the development of a national Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan, as directed by President Trump’s Executive Order 14179.

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced awards totaling approximately $40 million to support research and STEM workforce development in Delaware, Guam, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Vermont, according to a January 22 NSF press release.

The U.S. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program announced that 71 teams are advancing to the next stage of the second NSF Engines competition.

Manufacturing industries accounted for approximately $372 billion, or 54%, of all domestic business enterprise R&D (BERD) expenditures in 2022, up 36% from $274 billion in 2018. Despite this increase of nearly $100 billion over the past five years, the share of BERD expenditures in manufacturing industries has decreased eight percentage points from its 2018 value of 62%.

While both gross domestic product (GDP) and population have steadily increased across the United States over the last decade, the growth of business enterprise R&D (BERD) expenditures has surged ahead at an even faster pace.

As business R&D expenditures continue to increase nationwide, disparities between states deepen, an SSTI analysis of new Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) survey data reveals.

Domestic business R&D expenditures have jumped 15% ($89 billion) from 2021 to 2022. This jump continues a decade-long trend of year-over-year increases, as a new 2022 Business Enterprise R&D (BERD) survey shows.

Since the inception of I-Corps, only 20% of participants have been women, according to the 2023 National Science Foundation I-Corps biennial program report.

Significant differences between the House and Senate versions of the FY 25 budget numbers for science and the quadrennial election cycle might explain the increased language one hears concerning national security, competitiveness and global economic conditions. Data presented in a July issue brief by the National Science Board (NSB), however, should help raise the issue to encourage honest discussion about how the federal government will take on the challenges to U.S. leadership in innovation. Additionally, a new paper from the Aspen Strategy Group et al.

The five-year-old NSF Convergence Accelerator, which has funded nationwide research projects to address major societal challenges, is adding 10 “anchors” to focus on regional challenges. The regional anchor organizations will engage in the same solution development for underserved, underrepresented organizations and communities as the current national program. However, as part of the regional expansion, NSF aims to reach more local communities to help solve challenges that are especially meaningful to a particular region.

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) has released a new pilot map with data on over 3,300 awards nationwide managed by TIP starting from fiscal year 2023.

Nearly one out of every four workers in the United States is now involved in a STEM occupation, and 41 percent of those STEM workers do not have an associate’s degree or higher, according to data presented in the latest NSF Science & Engineering Indicator report, The STEM Labor Force: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers.  

In a report of FY 2011-2016 data, the National Science Foundation finds that rate of female participants in its currently-funded Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) may be higher than for overall engineering programs. Specifically, participation among female faculty is better by about seven percent, by about 15 percent among female undergraduates, and a more modest 1-2 percent increase among doctorate students.

The National Science Board released the biennial Science and Engineering Indicators report on Wednesday. This report compiles data about the composition of the U.S. research enterprise and its trajectory relative to that of other nations. It covers data collected through 2021.

More than five months into fiscal year 2024, Congress has approved an agreement covering six of the twelve annual appropriations bills. Many tech-based economic development (TBED) programs received funding equal to the FY 2023 base appropriation—a strong sign of support for a year in which Congress agreed to return to FY 2022 overall spending levels and many programs across the federal government, therefore, saw cuts.