Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Report Finds US Faces Technical Decline

The AeA released a report yesterday that finds that America is losing its edge in science and technology. The "Losing the Competitive Advantage?" report says that other countries, including China and India, are dramatically increasing the skill sets of their workforce, investing in research and development, and adopting advanced technologies. On the other hand, the report says that U.S. R&D funding has declined substantially, the American K-12 education system is failing to provide math and science skills necessary for kids to compete as knowledge workers, and the higher education system is not graduating enough engineers, computer scientists, and mathematicians to support the U.S. high tech industry. To make things worse, the US has raised the bureaucratic barriers to high-skilled immigration, one of America's key sources of science and engineering skills. The report concludes that these factors are threatening the U.S. economic vitality and competitive in the global marketplace, and recommends that the US should support high skilled immigration, improve the U.S. education system, increase R&D investment, and make the country more business-friendly, among other recommendations. The AeA is a trade association that lobbies the state and federal government on issues relating to the technology industry.