Press calls for new technology policy

Abstract

Based on the remarkable progress in science over the last decade, the United States is entering a new era in science and technology, said Frank Press, president of the National Academy of Sciences. In an address to the NAS's 129th annual meeting on April 27, he said that we will need to take new approaches to federal technology policy in response to new conditions in the world. We will need strength in science and technology, as well as excellence in marketing in order to maintain our leadership role, he said.“It will be an era in which the boundaries between basic and applied research erode,” said Press. “More than ever before, science will drive technology and technology will accelerate scientific progress,” he added. Research‐based science and technology in universities and federal laboratories will play a major role in the economic development of the United States, he noted.