"BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY, INNOVATION, AND GROWTH THROUGH A NATIONAL INNOVATION FOUNDATION"

The United States’ share of worldwide total domestic R&D spending fell from 46 percent in 1986 to 37 percent in 2003. Expanded support for basic research and science education, while important, will not do much to promote the commercialization of innovations. Without a more robust, targeted, and explicit federal innovation policy, U.S. competitiveness may well slip and economic growth may well lag.

In a new report published by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, Robert Atkinson and Howard Wial argue for the establishment of a National Innovation Foundation – a nimble, lean and collaborative entity devoted to supporting firms and other organizations in their innovative activities. NIF would work to catalyze industry-university research partnerships, expand regional innovation-promotion by state governments, and encourage technology adoption.