Big Boost for Science and Technology

Oct 26, 07:32 AM

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PASSAGE OF ACT WILL ADD BILLIONS TO RESEARCH AND EDUCATION With the passage of the America COMPETES Act into law, $33.6 billion will be authorized for projects in science and technology, including research, education programs, and teacher training.

Signing the bill in August, President George W. Bush noted it "will help ensure that we do remain the most competitive and innovative nation in the world." He praised lawmakers for their bipartisan support of its passage.

As a result of the bill, budget increases will be seen by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy s Office of Science, and the Department of Commerce National Institutes of Standards and Technology laboratories.

Congressman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) chairs the House of Representatives' Committee on Science and Technology and sponsored the bill. A statement he released following the passage of COMPETES - which stands for Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science - indicates that the act was based on the recommendations of the National Academies' 2005 report "Rising Above the Gathering Storm." That report called for a comprehensive federal effort to bolter U.S. competitiveness and pre-eminence in science and technology.

Incorporated in the bill is an amendment that specifically highlights the need to "understand and respond strategically to the emerging management and learning discipline known as service science." Service science is defined in the amendment as the application of "scientific, engineering, and management disciplines that integrate elements of computer science, operations research, industrial engineering, business strategy, management sciences, and social and legal sciences in order to encourage innovation in how organizations create value for customers and shareholders that could not be achieved through such disciplines working in isolation."

Copyright Institute of Industrial Engineers Oct 2007

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