Czech-American Technology Days

The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2009 GDP of $14.3 trillion (a quarter of nominal global GDP and a fifth of global GDP at purchasing power parity). According to the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. GDP of $14.4 trillion constitutes 24% of the gross world product at market exchange rates and almost 21% of the gross world product at purchasing power parity (PPP). It has the largest national GDP in the world, though it is about 5% less than the GDP of the European Union at PPP in 2008. The country ranks ninth in the world in nominal GDP per capita and sixth in GDP per capita at PPP.

R&D has a special economic significance apart from its conventional association with scientific and technological development. R&D investment generally reflects a government's or organization's willingness to forgo current operations or profit to improve future performance or returns, and its abilities to conduct research and development.

The federal policy framework for research and innovation was recently strengthened by the America Competes Act - The America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (http://science.house.gov/legislation/leg_highlights_detail.aspx?NewsID=1938).
The NSF (www.nsf.gov) is the only American federal agency whose mission includes support for all fields of fundamental science and engineering, except for medical sciences. NSF provides significant support to academic institutions for basic research in the physical sciences. Approximately 36 percent of academic research in physics is supported by the NSF, with 55 percent of academic research in materials research provided by the foundation. The main policy focus is on increased support for basic research, particularly in key physical science and engineering areas, in order to tackle global challenges such as energy and climate change, and on support for human resources in science and technology.

The United States has been a leader in scientific research and technological innovation since the late 19th century. Today, the U.S. is responsible for around one third of the world’s investments into R&D and spends approximately 2.6% of GDP on R&D. The majority of R&D in the U.S. is performed by industry and the private sector is responsible for approximately two thirds of all R&D funds. A typical ratio of research and development for an industrial company is about 3.5% of revenues.
The federal funding for R&D is approximately 140 billion USD for R&D funding annually (2008)2. Of the 2007 total, the United States spent $369 billion; Asia, $338 billion; and the European Union, $263 billion (according to the Science and Engineering Indicators 2010 report).

In the United States, the majority of business R&D spending is by manufacturing firms in high-technology sectors (63% of total manufacturing R&D is high-technology compared to 47% in the EU and 43% in Japan).

The federal agencies stimulate research, development and innovation in small businesses through a number of programs including the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

The United States retains its lead in innovation in critical sectors such as pharmaceuticals and ICTs, in which it invests more than any other OECD country.