Advanced science and technology in the United States
1. Leading the development of science and technology in the 20th century
The 20th century saw unprecedented brilliance and full scientific development of science and technology in human history century. The scientific achievements and material wealth created in the 20th century greatly exceeded the sum of the previous thousands of years. The experience of the past century tells us that the future competition in economic strength among countries in the world, including competition in military strength, is essentially a competition in national scientific and technological strength. The strong economic strength of the United States stems from the strong scientific and technological strength behind it. Throughout this century, the development of science and technology has experienced three major changes. We will see that developed countries led by the United States have been leading the trend of contemporary technological development.
The first major change in science and technology that occurred in the 20th century was the scientific revolution with physics as its core that ended in 1930. The greatest achievement of this revolution was the creation of relativity and quantum theory. During this period, Einstein created the theory of relativity, which revealed the universal laws between time, space, matter and motion, and provided a foundation for a number of emerging basic sciences such as high-energy physics, astrophysics, and radiation physics, as well as aerospace technology and nuclear energy applications. Waiting for the birth of a number of high technologies to open the way. The quantum theory founded by Planck, Schr?dinger, Bohr and others is a historic leap in human understanding of the movement and interaction of matter in the microscopic world. It has not only become the theoretical basis for structural chemistry, condensed matter physics, theoretical biology and other disciplines, but also It also opens the door to the advent of microelectronics, optoelectronics, lasers, new materials, atomic nuclei and other technologies and industries.
The breakthroughs in semiconductor technology and the discovery of the double helix structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the 1950s triggered the rapid development of science and technology in the world. Subsequently, atomic energy technology, space technology, microelectronics technology, communication technology, bioengineering technology, new material research, etc. have all made significant progress, greatly improving mankind's ability to understand and transform the natural world. This was the second major change in science and technology that occurred from the late World War II to the 1960s. This major change in science and technology resulted in a series of technological breakthroughs based on new scientific theories, which brought about the nuclear industry, The development of emerging high-tech industries such as the electronics industry, aerospace industry, electronic computing industry, and bioengineering has brought a completely new look to the world economic structure and human life. Therefore, people call this major change in science and technology a scientific and technological revolution or an industrial revolution.
3. Continuously increase investment in science and technology
Research and development (Ramp; D) is the source of power for a country’s scientific and technological development, so the input and output of research and development are today’s An important indicator for international comments on scientific and technological innovation activities. Judging from international experience, any country or region with leading science and technology or active innovation activities leads in absolute or relative amounts of science and technology investment. From the perspective of scientific research activities, the United States has always attached great importance to science and technology investment. After World War II, science and technology investment increased rapidly. In 1940, the expenditure on research and development funds was less than 1% of the US government budget expenditure. In 1963, it exceeded 1% of the total budget. 10, reaching 12.6 in 1965. Today, U.S. scientific research leads the world in both total and relative terms. In 1996, the total expenditure on research and development activities in the United States was US$184.665 billion, ranking first in the world, 21.2 times more than Japan, which ranked second, while China only had US$3.933 billion, ranking 17th in the world. According to the latest statistics from the National Science Foundation, the United States spent a total of 220.6 billion U.S. dollars on research and development (Ramp; (GDP) ratio was 2.61, higher than 2.54 in 1997 and 2.57 in 1996. It was the highest level in six years since 2.64 in 1992, and it still ranks first in the world. .
Venture investment plays an important role in the capital investment system. There are currently more than 3,000 venture capital institutions in the United States, with venture capital investment amounting to US$140 billion, exceeding the total savings of US banks.
Venture capital investment in emerging companies reached a record $7.7 billion in the second quarter of 1999, nearly double the record of $4.3 billion just broken in the first quarter. Total venture capital investment in the first half of the year was US$12 billion, an increase of 62% over the same period last year. The number of companies that received venture capital investment in the second quarter increased by 30% from 763 in the same period last year to 992, and the average investment size also increased by 57% from US$4.9 million in the same period last year, reaching US$7.4 million. Venture capital investment has become an integral part of the U.S. economy. As technological progress has developed faster, more investment funds will ultimately promote productivity improvements and technological innovation. It is reported that emerging Internet companies received US$3.8 billion in venture capital in the second quarter, accounting for about half of the total venture capital. Technology companies overall received US$6.9 billion in the second quarter, accounting for 90% of the total released funds.
4. A good atmosphere for the development of science and technology
The leading position of the United States in the economy depends on the leading position of the United States in science and technology, and this is inseparable from the good atmosphere of the United States. atmosphere for scientific and technological development. From bank ATMs to supermarket scanners, technology has penetrated nearly every corner of American life and has helped propel the U.S. economy to eight consecutive years of growth. The unremitting investment in high technology by American companies, coupled with the job opportunities created thereby, has made the high-tech industry increasingly important in the entire economic system. The development of technology, especially computer technology, has contributed to the growth of the U.S. economy and corporate earnings. The latest estimates indicate that the core computer and communications technology industry now accounts for 6.5 to 7.5 of the U.S. gross domestic product, surpassing the automobile manufacturing, service and construction industries to become the second largest industry after health care services.
According to federal government statistics, in the 1990s, about half of the commercial equipment expenditures of U.S. companies were invested in the field of information technology. Since the early 1990s, expenditures on goods and services related to computers and communications have increased. That's an increase of about one-third. The American Information Technology Association estimates that U.S. business spending on information and communications technology has grown from $452 billion in 1992 to $643 billion in 1997. The number of personal computers used in schools and homes alone has doubled in the past eight years. U.S. Vice President Al Gore said: New information and digital technologies are changing the way Americans work, live, communicate and entertain.
The U.S. government and various science and technology institutions have various awards, such as various U.S. Presidential Awards and numerous society and association awards, to recognize and encourage people who have contributed to science and technology. The United States has many Nobel Prize winners, which has also injected a good scientific and technological atmosphere into the United States. From 1950 to 1997, there were 334 Nobel Prize winners worldwide (limited to physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine, and economics), among whom more than half were Americans, 184 of whom were ***, far more than those in second place** *Britain of 47 people[12].
5. Pay special attention to scientific and technological innovation
Knowledge innovation refers to the process of obtaining new basic science and technical science knowledge through scientific research, including basic research and applied research. The purpose of knowledge innovation is to pursue new discoveries, explore new laws, create new doctrines, and accumulate new knowledge. Knowledge innovation is the basis of technological innovation, the source of new technologies and inventions, and a revolutionary force that promotes scientific and technological progress and economic growth.
Entering the stage of knowledge economy, technological innovation has become the leader in sustained economic growth in developed countries. In the United States, almost all famous brand companies attach great importance to the continuous development of new technologies and products. They believe that only by seizing the commanding heights of new technologies and products can they gain a competitive advantage. There are 50,000 scientists gathered in the world-famous Bell Laboratories in the United States. It is these scientists who have created countless "world firsts" for their companies. From its establishment in 1968 to 1994, Intel's operating income increased more than 1,000 times.
According to statistics, more than 7,000 high-tech company headquarters are concentrated in Silicon Valley in the United States. 20 of the world's 100 largest high-tech companies have set up camp here, such as computers. Company HP, software company Microsoft, chip company Intel, etc.
The glory of Silicon Valley is not that it produces chips, computers, software, etc., but that it gathers a large number of talents with the most innovative spirit, innovative concepts and creative talents in the world, and these people have established innovative systems, structures and Management methods, and the resulting hot and innovative social environment. It is precisely because of this special environment that we continue to cultivate batches of more innovative people. Innovation has become an eternal theme here [20].
The number of patents granted reflects the level of technological innovation of a country from another perspective. Since 1885, the number of patent applications in the United States has reached more than 3,000 every year. In the 1890s, the cumulative number of patents* **About 210,000 pieces. Today, the United States is at the world's advanced level in protecting intellectual property rights. From 1991 to 1995, the number of national patents granted increased at an average annual rate of 2.15. In 1995, the number of patents granted to citizens in the United States was 64,509. In 1995, the number of patents obtained by American citizens abroad was 109,146, 28,241 more than Japan, which ranked second, while China only had 213 patents. The average number of valid patents held by every 100,000 residents in the United States is 422, while China has only 2 [12].
The U.S. government has long recognized that emerging small businesses are a powerful force for technological innovation. In order to increase the contribution of small businesses to technological innovation and employment, the U.S. Congress passed the Small Business Technology Investment Act in 1958. From 1958 to 1969, the federal government's venture capital investment in innovative small and medium-sized enterprises in science and technology amounted to US$30 billion. Three times greater than private investment in the same period. Several well-known large technology companies in the United States today, such as Apple Computer, Compaq, Intel, etc., all relied on technology investment funds created by the government during their start-up period. After twenty years of practice, the U.S. Congress found that the research and development funds spent by the government on small businesses have much better results than those spent on large enterprises, universities, and national laboratories, regardless of the level of innovation, research progress, and commercialization rate. All have achieved remarkable results, especially in the transfer of national defense technology to civilian use. After 1982, Congress passed three bills related to small business innovation research and development. The government operated within the framework of these bills and successively established the [Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR)], [Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR)] and [Advanced Technology Program (ATP)], enabling small and medium-sized high-tech enterprises in the United States to develop rapidly. From the birth of the IBM personal computer in the early 1980s to the present, the United States, driven by small businesses in the computer industry, has completed the transition from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy, thus supporting the continuous rapid growth of the U.S. economy in recent years. According to reports, 37% of the current gross national product of the United States comes from small and medium-sized enterprises. Small and medium-sized enterprises provide nearly 50% of the job opportunities for the national labor market. Moreover, nearly two-thirds of new job opportunities are provided by small enterprises. Creation[22]. Even more surprising is that most new products and ideas come from small businesses.
In 1990, the U.S. Department of Commerce began to implement a scientific and technological innovation system called the [Advanced Technology Program (ATP)]. It is a unique form of cooperation between the government and private enterprises. Its purpose is to promote and encourage enterprises to conduct research and development of risky high-tech technologies in order to improve the quality of American products and enhance the competitiveness of American products and services in the world market. competitiveness and promote the development of the U.S. technology economy. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) completed its assessment of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) in the first half of this year. The evaluation report believes that the economic benefits created by implementing the advanced technology plan far exceed the investment in this plan. The assessment report said that without this scientific and technological innovation plan, many industries in the United States, such as the biotechnology industry, electronics industry, manufacturing, and software industries, would be difficult to reach today's technological level. For example, with the support of the Advanced Technology Program, a set of technologies for monitoring and controlling the automobile body manufacturing process jointly developed by some small and medium-sized companies has been applied in more than half of Chrysler and General Motors' plants in North America.
By the year 2000, this technology will be fully used, which will reduce the annual production costs of the automobile manufacturing industry, one of the most important industrial sectors in the United States, by $65 million to $160 million. A new technology for processing large semiconductor wafers developed by a newly established small company has made the United States the first country in the world market that can process a new generation of 300 mm diameter semiconductor wafers [23].
The U.S. government has long recognized the importance of high technology to economic development, and has invested a large amount of financial and material resources over the years to develop high-tech industries. In 1993, Clinton put forward the slogan "Technology is the generator of economic development, and science fuels the generator" and formulated a series of policies to promote the development of science and technology. In July 1996, the U.S. International Commission on Science and Education issued the [Technology for the Benefit of Nations] report [24], stating: “In the 21st century, our ability to grasp technological leadership will largely determine the prosperity, security, and global influence of the United States. power, and therefore determines the living standards and quality of life of the American people.”