Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Two Years Later

By Thomas Arrison, Rapporteur , Posted 02/10/09

Link: http://cart.nap.edu/cart/deliver.cgi?&record_id=12537

This report from National Academies Press can be downloaded as a pdf. It provides the results of a convocation of experts who developed the original report and with others met again to review any progress made since its release two years ago. The report focuses on major problems in the US with science and engineering education and innovation-focused R&D.

““A number of significant events have taken place since the Gathering Storm report was released,” said Norman Augustine, who chaired the committee that wrote the report. Unfortunately, he added, most of those positive events have occurred in other countries. Governments around the world are boosting their support of science and engineering research, invigorating precollege science and math education, and investing in institutions of higher education. Meanwhile, the United States has made little progress in strengthening its education, research, and innovation systems. “It would be a cruel outcome if the Gathering Storm report were to motivate others to become more competitive while we did little,” said Augustine. Emergence of the entrepreneurial space market will help move our country in the right direction as recommended by this seminal report.