As a nation we should think about research and innovation as a process of connecting resources to create new value driven products and resources. As a nation we spend a lot of money on a lot of different things that don't seem to make a big difference in our lives or our capacity as a nation to compete. One potential pathway to development is the creation of industry-university research opportunities. While this has been going on for some time I think we have made this somewhat more difficult because of regulations and red tape.
Companies regularly invest in research but what would be helpful is if there were some incentives for investing in solving those problems that impact the entire industry. For example, lets say that developing a better process to make paper leads to less pollution, more jobs, and a more competitive American paper manufacturing industry.
Sure...we can use tariffs and restrictions to create advantages but we might do well to include the ability to foster research through industry adaptation that makes them market leaders instead of market followers. Being a market leader means more wealth, jobs, and influence on world markets for the U.S. and these industries.
That would mean we might need better mechanisms and perhaps some incentives for companies that invest into a pool of funds used to solve bigger problems. That investment entity might focus only on problems as they relate to a specific industry so as to help to solve problems that are holding American industries back.
Just thinking about the possibilities here but we might have some type of non-profit research institutions for each of the major industries we are trying to enhance as a nation. Here is some additional information on academic-industry research. I was thinking more on the lines of a fund intermediary that can coordinate the direction of research through funding initiatives.
Here is something on academic-industry research.
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