PCAST Begins Its Work By Focusing On Industry

WASHINGTON -- On March 22 the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology rolled up its sleeves and got down to business, namely, the task of getting United States industry to play a larger role in strengthening science. The council has a mandate to provide the president with all manner of scientific and technological advice on pressing issues of the day. And its 12 members, who were sworn in February 2 (The Scientist, March 5, 1990, page 3), represent a diverse elite, from billionaire electronics giant David Packard to academic molecular biologist and Nobel laureate David Nathans. But it was clear during last month's meeting, which featured presentations on high performance computing and materials science, that PCAST chairman and presidential science adviser Allan Bromley is intent on tapping the nation's private sector for timely advice on how to improve the state of the scientific enterprise. One of Bromley's innovations for PCAST, which replaces the White House Science Council that existed during the Reagan years, is the creation of panels of outside experts to address particular issues facing the scientific community. The first such group, to be named shortly, will consist of a dozen academic and industrial leaders from across the country, who will study how to implement a national plan on high-performance computing that was presented last September. "One goal of this initiative is to preserve U.S. supremacy in advanced computing and to widen the lead significantly over the next decade," Eugene Wong, newly arrived Office of Science and Technology Policy associate director for the physical sciences, said during a spirited hour-long dialogue with PCAST members. "The second goal is the timely transfer of the benefits and responsibility to the private sector." The outside advisers will report to an interagency group, one of several such panels known as Federal Coordinating Committees on Science, Engineering, and Technology, that Bromley said would also be formed shortly. Other groups of outside experts are expected to be named later to focus on biotechnology, materials technology, and human resources in science. Achieving the proper relationship between the public and private sector was a recurring theme. Wong said that the federal government needs to play a major role in developing what has been called a National Research and Education Network (NREN) because the current market is too small to be financed by the private sector. Does that mean, interjected Sol Buchsbaum, senior vice president for technology systems at AT&T Bell Laboratories, that the government "is eager and willing to get into setting standards" for what must be built? "We're not eager, nor are we enthusiastic," replied Bromley. "But we recognize that the government must do it. There's a compelling need for wider access and use beyond the narrow base and limited accessibility that now exists, and uniform standards are part of the solution to that problem." Last fall's plan in high-performance computing called for an additional $2 billion over the next five years, and there is legislation pending in Congress that would authorize that amount. But Bromley told PCAST that the first concrete sign of support for the idea would appear in the president's 1992 budget to be submitted next January, saying that "we were too late getting started to get anything for this into the 1991 budget" now before Congress. And Bromley told PCAST that "we want to make sure that the government doesn't create a camel that the private sector doesn't want or need." Such warm regard for the wishes of the electronics industry proved a bit much for Dartmouth College geologist Charles Drake. "Does the private sector include universities?" Drake wanted to know. "Of course," replied Bromley quickly. "I should have said nongovernmental." Added Drake, "And don't forget the state and local governments." The discussion about materials science proceeded along similar lines. "The U.S. is weak in synthesis and processing of critical materials," declared William Phillips, the new OSTP associate director for industrial technology, "because academic departments do not include these areas, because industry does not reward work in this area, and because federal funding has not recognized and responded to this need." To emphasize the difficulty of the problem, Lehigh University president Peter Likins noted that "our culture doesn't reward people who make things - except money." Such a pervasive attitude, however, he said, makes it even harder to convince students of the value of pursuing a scientific or technical career. As he had done earlier, Bromley asked members for ideas on how to get industry to address the problem. "It's essential to develop a portrait of what civilian industry needs as well as what the government is already doing," said Sloan Foundation president Ralph Gomory. Although agreeing that such information was vital, Bromley warned PCAST members that answers might not be easy to find. "I remember when we did the physics survey [for the National Academy of Sciences]," Bromley recalled. "Industry broke down into two groups," he said. "The first didn't have any idea what they were spending on research and wouldn't tell us because they were embarrassed at how little it was. And the second group knew exactly what they were spending and wouldn't tell us because it represented important proprietary information."

PCAST Begins Its Work By Focusing On Industry

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