The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research To Canada

The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research to Canada Page 47© David A. Wolfe and Ammon Salterthe relationship, highlighting the interpersonal and tacit character of much of the process ofknowledge creation and diffusion. However, taken collectively, the body of evidence reviewedin this report provides a strong indication of the social and economic benefits that accrue to acountry’s innovation system from public funding for basic research.The importance of this conclusion is increasingly recognized among a number of our majorcompetitors. One of the final reports issued by the US Office of Technology Assessmentbefore its untimely demise sounded the warning that a shift in private funding away from basicresearch and towards more short–term, commercially–oriented research posed a threat to thefuture research base of the US economy. This shift is reflected in the downsizing of many ofthe large corporate research laboratories in the US and their refocusing towards more productdevelopment–oriented divisions. The OTA warned that, in light of the pressure to reducefederal budget deficits, funding for basic research at universities and federal laboratories coulddrop further, a change which “could potentially reduce the amount of basic research availableto US firms” (1995, p. 16). A recent White Paper on Basic Research published by R&DMagazine in the US echoed this warning. It notes the growing concern among both R&Dmanagers in industry and research administrators in universities that the shift away from basicresearch and a more long–term focus towards more commercially–relevant research with ashorter time horizon is drying up the pool of scientific knowledge that can feed futureinnovations. It quotes from a recent letter sent by 60 Nobel Prize winners to President Clintonand the US Congress advocating the continued funding for university–based research,America’s future prosperity will depend on a continued commitment to producing newideas and knowledge, and the people educated to apply them successfully. They will becentral to our economic opportunity in the face of intense global competition, to ourprotection against renewed threats to our security and environment, and to ensuring thehealth of Americans. Federal funding for university–based research is an investment inour future that should be maintained (Vandendorpe 1997).These concerns were echoed in a recent speech by Peter Nicholson, Executive Vice–Presidentfor Corporate Strategy of BCE, Inc. and formerly a senior policy advisor to the Minister ofFinance. Citing the White Paper on Basic Research and other sources, Mr. Nicholson warnedthat, “The trend away from curiosity–driven research in favour of highly directed investigation. . . must not be taken too far. Otherwise, we will deplete the wellspring of truly fundamentalinnovation on which sustained improvement in the human condition depends” (1997, p. 3).These remarks underline a central point made earlier in this report — continuing investments inbasic scientific research sustain both the number and variety of potential innovations that firmscan draw upon. A failure to sustain that investment undermines their ability to do so.47