April 14, 2010 —
The America COMPETES Act is up for reauthorization, and that's a good thing. Or at least, it’s a good thing if Congress seizes the opportunity to both invest and innovate as it extends one of the nation's most critical vehicles for keeping the nation competitive.
Passed in 2007, in part in response to the National Academies' report Rising Above the Gathering Storm, the act remains a signal authorization of critical programs and funding focused on science, technology, science education, and research and development (R&D).
Through its first authorization the act has sustained important initiatives in the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Among those needed initiatives have been major efforts to increase the nation's research investments; strengthen science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education from grade school to grad school; and construct a true technology innovation and commercialization infrastructure.
To read the full, original article click on this link: America COMPETES: Vehicle for Innovating at Innovation - Brookings Institution
Author:, Fellow and Policy Director, Metropolitan Policy Program
