COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Worldwide research and development funding is expected to reach an all-time high of $1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2006, according to a Battelle-R&D Magazine report on international research and development trends.
The increase is driven in part by rapid growth in Asia that has been ongoing for the past 10 years and is expected to continue for 5 to 10 more. A major source of the increase in R&D funding in that part of the world is outsourcing from other nations -- most significantly, the United States.
"This report sheds further light on the continuing trend toward greater globalization of R&D," says Dr. Jules Duga, senior research scientist at Battelle. "Technology increasingly is seen as a competitive economic advantage and investments are growing worldwide."
The report confirms that the U.S. remains at the front of the global pack in total R&D spending with a projected total of $312.2 billion to be spent in 2005. That's almost two-and-a-half times more than China ($125.49 billion) and Japan ($123.33 billion). But the U.S. share of global R&D spending is expected to decrease from 32.7 percent in 2004 to 32 percent in 2005 and 31.3 percent in 2006. China, over the same period, is expected to increase its share from 11.8 percent in 2004 to 12.8 percent in 2005 and 13.6 percent in 2006.
The report looks at 33 countries (including mainland China and Taiwan) and identifies three distinct groups when characterizing trends in R&D:
- Countries well established in the practices of R&D, with a variety of institutions, and a history of diverse contributions from the technology community to the general growth of the economy as a whole; - Countries whose R&D history is growing slowly from a more conservative or confined system of economic diversity, but which have the capacity to build new institutions that are supportive of an expanding economy; - Countries experiencing major growth in investment by the home government and external entities and significant commitments to science and technology educational systems.
India and China are representative of the third group. These aggressive builders are driving the increased spending that is expected to continue for several years, says Tim Studt, editor of R&D Magazine.
On the heavily debated issue of global R&D outsourcing, Duga and Studt noted that the recent spate of major investments in both facilities and research support is expected to continue for the next few years, to be followed by a period of assessment of the impact of these decisions.
"But it also is expected that the present high rate of growth of all these relevant parameters cannot be sustained," Studt says. "Just as there has developed a saturation point in almost all other national R&D enterprises, so also will equilibrium be attained within the growing societies. Over the long run, we expect that the major consequences of the present trends in research capacity in the growing new economies will result in a new level of equilibrium in the community of technology-intensive countries."
Battelle has prepared a report on U.S. R&D funding annually for more than 40 years, including the last 11 in partnership with R&D Magazine. Duga has co-authored that forecast for 26 years. This is Battelle's first comprehensive report on international R&D spending.
The full report will be printed in the September issue of R&D Magazine. Reprints will be available then by contacting Battelle's Jean Hayward at (614) 424-7039 or at haywardj@battelle.org.
Battelle is a global leader in science and technology. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, it develops and commercializes technology and manages laboratories for customers. Battelle, with the national labs that it manages or co-manages, oversees 19,000 staff members and conducts $2.9 billion in annual research and development. Battelle innovations include the development of the office copier machine (Xerox), pioneering work on compact disc technology, and medical technology advancements.
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