What companies want from the federal labs

Abstract

Many recent studies, reports, and congressional bills prescribe a new purpose for this country`s federal laboratories. They maintain that the new customer of the federal labs should be U.S. industry and that the labs` new mission should be technology transfer. The common conclusion is that a significant portion of the labs` budgets should be directed toward joint R&D with industry. President Clinton and Vice President Gore also want to encourage the nations`s 726 federal laboratories to act as partners with industry whenever possible. They recommend that Department of Defense, Department of Energy, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration labs be reviewed and that 10 to 20 percent of their budgets be redirected to joint R&D. Legislators seem to agree. The initial question is how the public investment in these resources can best be utilized for national benefit. There are three broad policy options: Abolish the nuclear weapons and defense labs and apply their funding to industry and universities. Reduce investment in the weapons and defense labs, selectively eliminating those whose missions are obsolete and consolidating those that remain around a more limited set of missions. Or redirect the weapons and defense labs toward nondefense missions such as energy, environment, andmore » U.S. competitiveness.« less

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