Lewis M. Branscomb: "Sustained Complacency" on Innovation Risks U.S. Economic Strength

While China and India are pioneering new globally networked business models, the United States risks falling behind because of the government's "sustained complacency" on innovation policy, veteran science and technology policy expert Lewis M. Branscomb said in AAAS's annual William D. Carey Lecture

Branscomb blamed both Republicans and Democrats for superficial attention to the innovation issue. U.S. policy must do more than fund research and seek improvements in education and then count on "market forces... to bridge the 'valley of death' between basic research and commercial innovations," he said.

Branscomb is professor emeritus of Public Policy and Corporate Management at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and adjunct professor at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California-San Diego. He also has served in top positions at IBM, including vice president and chief scientist, and as chairman of the U.S. National Science Board from 1980-1984.

He delivered the Carey Lecture 8 May at the AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy in Washington, D.C.

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