AIBS has endorsed an action plan developed by the Science and Technology Action Committee that calls for doubling the federal expenditure for research and development and STEM education relative to gross domestic product (GDP), from 0.7 percent to 1.4 percent, over the next five years.
The requested level of funding is estimated to reach roughly $380 billion in five years. “Today, the U.S.—indeed, the global community—faces existential challenges that span such wide-ranging arenas as public health and healthcare, environment and climate change, food and water security, and energy production, utilization and storage,” reads the Science and Technology Action Plan. “Further, our nation’s competitiveness in the global economic arena can no longer be taken for granted: other nations are working methodically to bolster their science and technology capacity and talent, utilizing those strengths to create and capture new export markets. We must invest in ourselves to drive the innovation and change that can serve our nation and our planet.”
The Science and Technology Action Committee is a nonpartisan coalition of non-profit, academic, foundation, and corporate leaders that aims to strengthen U.S. science and technology. Organizations can endorse their action plan at: https://forms.gle/ovf3asDsWMWiAqvG7.