Special Initiative: The American Competitiveness I

In fiscal year 2008, President Bush proposes $11.42 billion total to support the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) across the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE SC), and the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratories (NIST). This reflects an overall funding increase of $764 million, or 7.2 percent, above his proposed 2007 ACI Research Budget of $10.66 billion.



As a centerpiece of ACI, the president plans to double, over 10 years, investment in innovation-enabling research across the three federal agencies:

• NSF is the primary source of support for academic research in the physical sciences, funding basic research in areas such as nanotechnology, advanced networking and information technology, physics, chemistry, materials science, mathematics, and engineering. It also is well regarded for funding nearly all of its research through a competitive, peer-reviewed process. The increase in NSF funding would support more researchers, students, postdoctoral fellows and technicians contributing to the innovation enterprise.
• DOE SC supports grants and infrastructure for basic research related to economically significant innovations, including nanotechnology, biotechnology, high-end computing and advanced networking, and energy technologies. The 2008 budget increases funding for both research and cutting-edge facilities in these critical mission areas, such as an expansion in the number of nanoscale science and bio-energy research centers, expanded supercomputing facilities and related research, and design or construction activities for world-leading next-generation materials research facilities.
• NIST invests in technological innovation through research and standards development. These investments are designed to improve nanotechnology manufacturing capabilities; expand NIST’s neutron investigation facility to aid in characterizing novel materials in high-growth research fields; construct new, top-performance laboratories at NIST’s Boulder, Colo., facility; and increase understanding of quantum information science that has the potential to dramatically improve computer processing speeds and enable more secure communications.

ACI is in its second year, after being introduced during the president's 2006 State of the Union Address (see the Feb. 13, 2006 issue of the Digest). The total 10-year impact is projected to be $86.4 billion.



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