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Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy

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Science, technology, and innovation policy shapes the science and research enterprise, with the goal of directing its activities to serve public needs. RAND experts have explored how to incentivize high-value products in the health care sector, examined government options for promoting and accelerating innovation in housing, and determined how to design "prizes" that spur breakthroughs.

Commentary
Biotechnology and Today's Warfighter
Biotechnology has a broad and often misunderstood scope, one with significant implications for today's warfighter, and it may be reaching a critical junction. As it continues to mature, proactive policy becomes necessary for the federal government to leverage emerging capabilities effectively and remain competitive.
Oct 25, 2022
Essay
What Might Space Look Like in 2050?
It would not take huge technological breakthroughs to make space and space travel a much bigger part of everyday life. Instead, it would take a steady progression of incremental advances—and one development in particular could provide the tipping point.
Jan 5, 2023

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Testimony
Advancing Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence
The United States can make safety a differentiator for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, just as it did for the early aviation, automotive, and pharmaceutical industries. Government involvement in safety standards could build consumer trust in AI that strengthens the U.S. position as a market leader.
Jun 22, 2023
Testimony
Ensuring that Government Use of Technology Serves the Public
Ensuring that technologies deployed by the government serve the public interest requires an accurate assessment of their benefits and risks as well as the public's trust that these rapidly advancing technologies are used responsibly. Public perception is important, including the perspectives of different demographic groups.
Jun 22, 2023
Commentary
The AI Conspiracy Theories Are Coming
Artificial intelligence is a technology ready-made for conspiratorial thinking. The time to counter conspiracy theories about AI is now—before they take hold in the minds of the public.
Jun 22, 2023
Commentary
How Should the U.S. Government Buy AI Tools?
The need for AI-readiness in federal procurement will continue to grow with the capabilities of AI tools. There are concrete steps the government could take to ensure all development and implementation of AI-related laws, regulations, and executive branch policies include appropriate considerations.
Jun 20, 2023
Report
Scientific and Technological Flows Between the United States and China
Leaders from both the United States and China have recognized scientific and technological dominance as a national priority. But what are the potential benefits and risks of U.S.-Chinese scientific research collaboration?
Jun 15, 2023
Report
Climate Change Dilemmas for UK Defence and Security: Exploring implications, challenges, opportunities and threats through future scenarios
We explored the implications of climate-change on the UK Ministry of Defence's ability to deliver its priority outcomes. We developed narrative vignettes to facilitate analysis of climate change dilemmas and implications in a participatory event.
May 31, 2023
Commentary
How Can Platforms Deal with Toxic Content? Look to Wall Street
Social media has a content problem. It's not the content itself, although the list of toxic material is long. The problem is the sheer volume of content. Instead of trusting in self-regulation, the United States could use its regulation of Wall Street after 2008 as a roadmap for regulating tech.
May 26, 2023
Q&A
AI, ChatGPT, and Language as Technology: Q&A with William Marcellino
William Marcellino, a senior behavioral and social scientist at RAND and professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, discusses the rapidly expanding reach of artificial intelligence, the challenges it could pose for both society and policymakers, and how the research community is poised to help.
May 12, 2023
Dissertation
Coherence to Choices: Informing Decisions on Public-Private Partnerships in the Space Sector
Presents a comprehensive set of research on the topic of space public-private partnerships to move forward from the rudimentary discourse to critical discussions and analytical investigations.
May 3, 2023
Journal Article
Productivity Institute Programme: Evaluation Framework and Baseline Report
This report sets out the findings of the first phase of an evaluation of the 2019 Productivity Institute Programme, comprising The Productivity Institute, the Programme on Innovation and Diffusion and the thematic investments.
Apr 14, 2023
Report
How Will Technology Shape, and Be Shaped By, Policy Choices in the Coming Decades? A Research Agenda from the Technology Futures Policy Summit
The summit gathered 15 top thinkers from industry, academia, and government to evaluate how emerging technologies could change the balance of policymaking and decisionmaking between governments and other actors.
Apr 12, 2023
Testimony
Cyber Threats to Canada's Defence Infrastructure
Cyber threats to critical infrastructure have been a concern for at least three decades. What are the potential impacts those threats can have for the security of North America? And what can the governments of Canada and the United States do to address them?
Apr 6, 2023
Commentary
Can China's Green Energy Acceleration Put at Risk the West's Hydrogen Plans?
Hydrogen (H2) plays a key role in the decarbonization plans of the European Union and the United States. Both have launched aggressive hydrogen strategies to increase the generation of H2 and deployment of related technologies. But these bold ambitions may face headwinds due to the acceleration of China's energy transition.
Apr 3, 2023
Commentary
Venture Capital Gives America a Strategic Edge in the Age of Technology Wars
U.S. early-stage hardware startups are seriously disadvantaged by a persistent lack of financing. Congress authorized the U.S. Department of Defense to spend $75 million to invest in dual-use hardware startups. But the Pentagon has proven reticent to embrace a venture capital–style approach, even though research has demonstrated it is optimal for driving innovation.
Mar 20, 2023
Report
Strengthening the Defense Innovation Ecosystem
The Department of Defense can more effectively harness commercially developed technologies through policies that incentivize and improve coordination and collaboration between defense innovation organizations and traditional acquisition stakeholders.
Mar 7, 2023
Research Brief
Fostering Innovation in Military Technology: Strengthening DoD's Commercial Technology Pipeline
RAND researchers examined how well the Department of Defense is identifying, developing, and transitioning innovative commercial technologies from the private sector to the military and how the defense ecosystem can better support this process.
Mar 7, 2023
Journal Article
Evaluation Framework for the Strength in Places Fund: A Report for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
This report sets out the evaluation framework for the Strength in Places Fund. It includes a process evaluation to understand what has worked in the design and delivery of the fund and an impact evaluation to understand what SIPF has achieved.
Mar 7, 2023
Report
Strategic advantage in a competitive age: Definitions, dynamics and implications
SONAC commissioned RAND Europe to refine their working definition of strategic advantage. The team developed case studies and conducted expert workshops to explore the types of advantage and how actors seek to maintain and exploit their advantages.
Mar 6, 2023
Report
The relationship between research spending and research performance: A cross-country and in-depth study
This study investigates the relationship between spending and research performance through an econometric analysis and also investigates potential nonlinearities in the relationship between spending and performance through a series of case studies.
Feb 22, 2023
Report
Promoting Strong International Collaboration in Quantum Technology Research and Development
The author discusses (1) the strategic importance of (and challenges of) strong research collaboration with U.S. allied and partner nations and (2) five key policy areas in this space. He also proposes a desired end state for this cooperation.
Feb 22, 2023

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Sally Sleeper

Vice President, Army Research Division

Sally Sleeper is vice president, Army Research Division and director, RAND Arroyo Center, which conducts research and analysis for the United States Army. She leads a team of professionals to provide high-quality, objective research and analysis and deep expertise in domains of direct relevance…
Dahlia Anne Goldfeld

Senior Information Scientist

Dahlia Goldfeld is an information scientist at the RAND Corporation with a specialty in adoption of emerging technology and modeling and simulation. She has primarily worked in RAND Project AIR FORCE, focusing on topics such as electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, emerging technology…

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