A coalition of 14 business, higher education, and scientific organizations has released a four-minute video proposing strong federal investments in research and higher education.

Featuring rapidly hand-drawn images, the “Close the Innovation Deficit” effort explains a direct link between basic research, economic growth, improved medical treatments, and national security.

Virginia Tech is a member of many of the sponsoring organizations, including the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the American Council on Education, and the Council on Competitiveness.

The video points out a widening gap between actual federal and governmental funding for research and education, and suggests what funding should for the United States to remain the world’s innovation leader. It is being released prior the White House’s expected 2015 budget proposal.

According to the National Science Board, the U.S. share of global research and development declined from 37 percent to 30 percent since 2001, the coalition said.

Meanwhile, the economies of East and Southeast Asia and South Asia – including China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan – saw an increase from 25 percent to 34 percent in their combined share of the global total.

The pace of growth over the past 10 years in China’s overall research and development spending remains at about 18 percent annually adjusted for inflation, propelling it to 14.5 percent of the global total in 2011, up from 2.2 percent in 2000.

In addition to the new video, which was produced by a team at Colorado State University, the Close the Innovation Deficit website details the impact that U.S. cuts and foreign investments are having on the nation’s role as innovation leader.

Additional organizations supporting the effort are the Aerospace Industries Association, the American Heart Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association of American Universities, the Business-Higher Education Forum, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, the Semiconductor Industry Association, the Task Force on American Innovation, The Science Coalition, and United for Medical Research.

Contact:

Share this story