IP: White House Slashes Technology Grant Program

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 09:12:52 -0800
> From: Ari Ollikainen <Ari () OLTECO com>
>
>
>         Good news for universities?
>
>         "...The White House said it would seek to reform the program to
>         ensure that it would give more awards to universities and fewer
>         to large corporations..."
>
> Monday February 4 11:48 AM ET
> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020204/tc/budget_tech_dc_1.html
> White House Slashes Technology Grant Program
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Monday proposed
> sharp cuts in a program that provides grants for high-tech research,
> saying it amounts to corporate welfare and could be replaced by
> private venture-capital efforts.
>
> In its proposed budget for fiscal year 2003, the White House
> recommended reducing funding for the Advanced Technology Program by
> 42 percent, from $185 million in 2002 to $108 million in 2003.
>
> New grants would be reduced to $35 million, the report said. The
> program has averaged $150 million in grants yearly since 1990.
>
> The program was created in 1988 to prevent the United States from
> falling behind other countries in high-tech research and development.
> But over the past 14 years, that role has largely been taken over by
> private venture capital, the report noted.
>
> Venture-capital investments have risen from $6 billion in 1995 to
> $104 billion in 2001, according to one estimate, the report said.
>
> ``The overall growth in venture capital suggests sufficient private
> funding is available for high-technology projects,'' the White House
> said.
>
> Although the program focuses on small firms, it has in many cases
> given money to large corporations with ready access to capital, the
> report said, creating corporate subsidies and duplicating
> private-sector efforts.
>
> For example, one $4.8 million grant helped a group of automakers
> improve their manufacturing processes and save hundreds of million
> dollars annually, according to the project's Web site.
>
> The White House said it would seek to reform the program to ensure
> that it would give more awards to universities and fewer to large
> corporations, as well as require firms to reimburse the government up
> to five times its original investment if its grant led to success.
>
>  _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
>  You can't depend on your judgement when your imagination is out of focus.
>                                                           -- Mark Twain.
>  _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
>
>        OLTECO                    Ari Ollikainen
>        P.O. BOX 20088            Networking Architecture and Technology
>        Stanford, CA              Ari () OLTECO com
>        94309-0088                415.517.3519

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