Recognizing that a capacity to innovate and commercialize new high-technology products is increasingly a key for the economic growth in the environment of tighter environmental and resource constraints, governments around the world have taken active steps to strengthen their national innovation systems.

These steps underscore the belief of these governments that the rising costs and risks associated with new potentially high-payoff technologies, their spillover or externality-generating effects and the growing global competition, require national R&D programs to support the innovations by new and existing high-technology firms within their borders.



The National Research Council's Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) has embarked on a study of selected foreign innovation programs in comparison with major U.S. programs. The "21st Century Innovation Systems for the United States and Japan: Lessons from a Decade of Change" symposium reviewed government programs and initiatives to support the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises, government-university- industry collaboration and consortia, and the impact of the intellectual property regime on innovation. This book brings together the papers presented at the conference and provides a historical context of the issues discussed at the symposium.



Table of Contents


Front Matter
Introduction--The Chrysanthemum Meets the Eagle: The Co-evolution of Innovation Policies in Japan and the United States
Overview
Technology Policies in Japan: 1990 to the Present
Reform of University Research System in Japan: Where Do They Stand?
Government's Evolving Role in Supporting Corporate R&D in the United States: Theory, Practice, and Results in the Advanced Technology Program
Government Programs to Encourage Innovation by Startups & SMEs: The Role of Innovation Awards
Programs to Stimulate Startups and Entrepreneurship in Japan: Experiences and Lessons
Economic Impacts of International R&D Coordination: SEMATECH and the International Technology Roadmap
Semiconductor Consortia in Japan: Experiences and Lessons for the Future
Issues in and Possible Reforms of the U.S. Patent System
Reform of Patent System in Japan and Challenges
Industry-University R&D Partnerships in the United States
University-Industry Partnerships in Japan
The Connected Science Model for Innovation - The DARPA Role
Public-Private Linkage in Biomedical Research in Japan: Lessons of the 1990s
Appendix A--Symposium Agenda
Appendix B--Bibliography