An Electronic Newsletter
for the International S&T Community
August 98, No. 1, ITRI, Loyola College
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Free newsletter on international S&T assessments from the International Technology Research Institute, Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland 21210, USA. This is the HTML version at http://itri.loyola.edu/NEWS/.
To subscribe to the newsletter, send email to majordomo@itri.loyola.edu with only:
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Welcome to the first edition of ITRInews covering studies of international S&T for national competitive assessments, international tech transfer, and international cooperation. It is from ITRI, which has done over 50 such studies with sponsorship from NSF and other agencies, but will cover other similar projects.
We want to include workshops, reports, new studies, etc. Please send us email on projects that should be included -- the results should be public, at least in summary. After the first, we'll try to keep it to less than two pages with a Web link for details. Please forward to others, and may I have your ideas?
Duane Shelton, rds@loyola.edu, http://justice.loyola.edu/~rds/
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o TWO NEW ASSESSMENTS OF MATH (NSF AND NAS)
o WORKSHOPS ON DIGITAL LIBRARIES AND
COMPUTER MEMORY (WTEC)
o WORLDTEC ALERT SERVICE AVAILABLE (NTIS)
o JAPAN WASHINGTON WATCH E-LETTER (JIAP)
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== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *==CROSS-CUTTING STUDIES AND OTHER SOURCES
1. Science (7/3/98 pp. 49-51) has "The Scientific Investments of Nations," by Robert May comparing R&D in 12 countries, 1981-1995. Sweden and Japan overtook the U.S. and Germany as the top spenders relative to GDP. The U.S.,U.K., and Germany showed sharp declines. He has provocative data on paper productivity per $millions in each -- the leaders may surprise you. Science on-line subscribers may go to the URL below, others to the library: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol281/issue5373/#compass
2. The German Embassy has a more upbeat assessment of their R&D-based exports. Germany has a 17% market share in research intensive products, following Japan (19%) and U.S. (18%). http://www.germany-info.org/facts/tech0129.htm
3. RAND/CTI has the Fourth National Critical Technologies Report (NCTR) study underway, "Critical Technologies: The View from Industry." http://www.rand.org/centers/cti/research.html
4. Japan Washington Watch is an excellent e-letter for JIAP members. It flags hearings, events, and reports for the policy community interested in Asia. Contact: Louise Hayden (202) 822-6040, access@nmjc.org.
5. Worldtec is a foreign S&T alert service from NTIS, with information from thousands of sources including speeches, workshops, internships, meetings and visits, and abstracts of government plans and studies. http://worldtec.fedworld.gov
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1. WTEC Workshop on Digital Information 5/12/98. This study of digital libraries is sponsored by NSF and DARPA; the chair is Raj Reddy. They found that the Japanese have some excellent DLs and are leading in enabling technologies in 3D image capture and displays. http://itri.loyola.edu.
2. Software Engineering and Contract Software Development (India), January, 1998. The results of this study tour are only for MCC members, but a summary may be available on request.
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1. Report of the Senior Assessment Panel on the International Assessment of U.S. Mathematical Sciences, March 1998. William Odom, chair, (NSF) Report No. NSF 98-95.
2. International Benchmarking of U.S. Mathematics Research, 1997, Peter D. Lax, Chair, (NAS) http://www2.nas.edu/cosepup/22be.html
3. R&D in Nanoparticles and Nanodevices in the U.S. (WTEC) This study is sponsored by most of the U.S. research funding agencies; the chairs are Dick Siegel and Evelyn Hu. Workshop slides and a U.S. benchmark report are available; other products are in press. http://itri.loyola.edu
4. WTEC Workshop on Data Storage Technologies, 5/27/98. This study is sponsored by NSF, DARPA, and NIST; chairs are M. Kryder and S. Esener. Japan is far ahead in many optical technologies and is positioned to take the lead in magnetic storage if the U.S. stumbles. U.S. http://itri.loyola.edu
6. WTEC Global Assessment of Satellite Communications. Sponsored by NASA and NSF; chairs are Joe Pelton and Al MacRae. This update of a 1992 WTEC global study found that access to technology is just one barrier to satellites competing for niche markets. Governments can also help by deregulation, standards, and ensuring access to spectra. The April 1998 Scientific American had an summary article by Joe Pelton. http://itri.loyola.edu
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1. NAS is working on a study of immunology with funding from the Sloan Foundation. This is third in a new series; another is on materials science. http://www4.nas.edu/webcr.nsf/ProjectScopeDisplay/ Then go down several pages to project CSEP-Q-97-01-A.
2. Food Processing Mission to France, 1997 (DTI). http://www.dti.gov.uk/mbp/its/missions/missions.html
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== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *== *==GENERAL NOTES
The organizations doing international S&T studies featured in this issue of ITRInews are below.
1. (WTEC) World Technology (WTEC) Division of ITRI, funded by a coop agreement with NSF. Paul Herer is NSF program director, and Geoff Holdridge is the WTEC Division Director. http://itri.loyola.edu
2. (DTI) British Department of Trade and Industry, the ministry charged with promoting industry. http://www.dti.gov.uk/
3. (NAS) U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which has conducted several international science assessments, and is planning more. http://www.nas.edu/
4. (MCC) Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp. in Austin, TX conducts study tours; data access is limited. http://www.mcc.com/gts.html/
5. (NTIS) National Technical Information Service, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, but costs are borne by its users. http://worldtec.fedworld.gov
6. (AAAS) American Association for the Advancement of Science publishes Science Magazine, including an on-line version available by subscription. http://www.aaas.org/
7. (CTI) The RAND Critical Technologies Institute provides staff support for OSTP via an NSF contract managed by Paul Herer. It also conducts the National Critical Technology Reviews. http://www.rand.org/centers/cti/
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Copyright 1998 Loyola College. Partly sponsored by NSF coop agreement ENG-9707092. Permission is given to copy ITRInews with credit to ITRI. Loyola or its sponsors do not accept responsibility for the accuracy of information. Complaints or comments to rds@itri.loyola.edu please.