63 Items

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Report - University of Minnesota

Accelerating Development of Energy Innovation Ecosystems: Strengthening Links Across Institutions and Actors

This report is a summary of a workshop that took place June 18/19, 2023 in Cambridge, UK. The workshop was hosted by the University of Cambridge's Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance. The research project, ‘What factors drive innovation in energy technologies? The role of technology spillovers and government investment,’ was led by Professors Laura Diaz Anadon (University of Cambridge's Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance), Venkatesh Narayanamurti (Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs) and Gabriel Chan (University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs) as co-PIs.

The research project was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 

Semi-conductor chips are assembled and organized on a workbench before a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of a Nanotronics manufacturing center at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Wednesday, April 28, 2021, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.

AP Photo/John Minchillo

Report - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Catalyzing Semiconductor Innovation through a National Semiconductor Technology Center

| June 2023

The National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), newly appropriated in the CHIPS and Science Act, is intended to be the central hub for research and engineering within the semiconductor ecosystem. This paper delves into the socioeconomic and geopolitical context of the CHIPS legislation, the infrastructure supporting the NSTC, and crucial business considerations for its success. Specifically, the authors highlight the potential benefits for smaller and medium-sized enterprises, which stand to gain the most from the NSTC.

circuit board

Unsplash/Alexandre Debieve

Analysis & Opinions - Issues in Science and Technology

The CHIPS and Science Act: An Inflection Point for Technological Leadership?

| Fall 2022

The CHIPS Act may indeed be a watershed development for restoring America’s global leadership in research and development, but whether it truly marks an inflection point for American competitiveness remains to be seen. Global technological leadership is likely to be determined by much more than simply an influx of dollars.

Researcher Dr. Ramachandran Prakasam pulls stem cells out of a nitrogen tank

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson

Journal Article - Nature Reviews Physics

Three Common Misconceptions About the Nature and Nurture of Research

Venkatesh Narayanamurti and Jeffrey Y. Tsao discuss lessons learned from the success of the great 20th- century industrial research labs and warn against three common misconceptions about what drives, and how one can stimulate, scientific and technological progress. They advocate for the value of learning and surprise, and for an irreverence for boundaries of all kind — between disciplines, science and technology, and the finding of new questions and new answers.

Quantum diamond microscope tracks changes in magnetic fields

John T. Consoli/University of Maryland

Report - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Tech Hub Competition and Federal R&D Funding

    Authors:
  • Sarith Felber
  • Chuck Meire
  • Gopal Nadadur
  • Christina A. Nguyen
| June 2022

This report examines the competitiveness of Boston’s tech hub by comparing its performance to other leading hubs. In particular the report reviews the importance of federal funding for research and development, compares Boston’s share of federal funding to other tech hubs and explores how Boston could leverage its advantages to increase its own share of federal funding. Critically, the report recognizes the role Boston plays in the national innovation landscape and argues that it is in Boston's best interest to more effectively collaborate with existing and emerging hubs to advance U.S. scientific leadership.

 

National Science Foundation headquarters

Credit: National Science Foundation

Analysis & Opinions - Issues in Science and Technology

Fostering Innovation to Strengthen US Competitiveness Through the National Science Foundation

| May 12, 2022

In reshaping the National Science Foundation and other institutions to best support innovation, policymakers should apply evidence-based principles drawn from scholarship and previous experience, write Steven Currall and Venkatesh Narayanamurti.

Lightbulb

Cole Ankney/Unsplash

Analysis & Opinions - National Academy of Engineering

Technoscientific Research: A Missing Term in R&D Discourse

| Jan. 18, 2022

Over the past decade, there have been consistent alarm signals about U.S. leadership in science and technology. Venkatesh Narayanamurti argues that the remedy is not merely additional funding for R&D, but also more effective funding in technoscientific research, a key engine of innovation.