Status of worldwide R&D

Late last month, in an event at the White House, the U.S. National Science Board (NSB) released its Science and Engineering Indicators 2010 report. Produced every two years by NSB — the governing body for the National Science Foundation (NSF; Arlington, Va.; http://www.nsf.gov) and NSF’s div. of Science Resources Statistics — the Science and Engineering Indicators Series is an authoritative source of U.S. and international data on science, engineering and technology. The NSF likens the publication to a report card on U.S. science, engineering and technology, comparing U.S. performance with other nations. For the broader, global context of CE’s audience, the report reveals a number of interesting facts about the present status and future outlook of research and development (R&D), and therefore, the innovation platform on which our profession rides. In general, R&D expenditures indicate the priority that a nation or region gives to advancing science and technology relative to other goals. The report estimates that worldwide R&D expenditures in 2007 (the most recent year for which data is available) totaled an estimated $1,107 billion. Even though many countries conduct R&D, for now the lion’s…