The Impact of Offshore R&D on U.S. Technological Competitiveness
Although the U.S. remains the overwhelming leader in technological innovation, its lead is declining. To solve this problem, conventional wisdom is that the U.S. must dramatically increase educational quality and number of graduates in all types of technical disciplines (science, engineering, math, IT) and it must dramatically increase the level of high-level R&D investment—both directly through government spending and indirectly though tax incentives for corporate investment. Right? Not exactly!
The Impact of Offshore R&D on U.S. Technological Competitiveness examines why some conventional wisdom and policies may actually result in the U.S.’s technological lead falling even further and faster.
Key Points
- The U.S. must rethink conventional R&D wisdom.
- Companies and countries must establish clear R&D priorities.
- Mid-level and ground-level development may be the most strategic type of R&D.
- Customer implementation may be a nation’s biggest technological advantage.
- The U.S. must redefine its technology education and career priorities.
- The risks of a global R&D model are both real and manageable.
What You Will Learn
- How the U.S. government and businesses can turn the rapid growth of offshore R&D from a strategic challenge into a strategic opportunity.
- What criteria companies should use to determine which R&D efforts to offshore, which should be done in captive offshore facilities, which should be done in different partnerships and which should be monitored and selectively licensed.
- How U.S. companies can capitalize on technologies that are developed anywhere in the world.
- The ways in which offshore R&D can help create new high-value U.S. technology jobs and career paths.