Of the many actions required to respond to the challenge from abroad, asserted William Norris, chairman emeritus of Control Data Corporation, "none is more important in an era of fierce competition than better managing our technology, especially to increase the efficiency of creating and applying it'
A major ingredient of such management, said Norris at a session on competitiveness, is "a vast in-crease in large-scale technological cooperation among corporations, universities and government." His prescription for achieving that: "The immediate formation of large-scale ventures in many industries," modeled after the Microelectronics and Computer Company (MCC), established with Norris' help in 1982.
Because overseas competition and domestic corporate raids have reduced the money available to U.S. industry for R&D, however, "federal and state funding is required to establish cooperative R&D consortia," Norris said.
Presidential science adviser William Graham put the spotlight on industry's role in moving basic science into market applications. "We ...
