OMICS recommends three-step plan for sustainable advancement and innovation

The U.S. needs a comprehensive and transformational policy for the 21st century to ensure that it remains competitive in the global science and technology arena, according to a provocative opinion piece in the latest issue of OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com). The commentary is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/omi

Eugene Kolker, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of OMICS and Chief Data Officer, Seattle Children's Hospital and Head, Bioinformatics & High-throughput Analysis Laboratory, Seattle Children's Research Institute, presents his views on the critical role science and technology will continue to play in U.S. economic growth and the enormous benefits society stands to gain from scientific discovery in, "A Vision for 21st Century U.S. Policy to Support Sustainable Advancement of Scientific Discovery and Technological Innovation."

Dr. Kolker bases his views on a published analysis of U.S. research funding since World War II, as well as data on the numbers of graduate students, patents, and publications in the sciences and engineering. This comprehensive assessment also included a comparison of the level of U.S. support for R&D with that of the European Union and China over the past decade.

Dr. Kolker views the competition from other countries as healthy rather than threatening, saying, "We welcome such a new reality in which we both compete and collaborate and, as a result, benefit all the countries involved."

He proposes a three-step plan for sustainable advancement and innovation in the U.S. that includes transformation of the federal Office of Science and Technology to a Department of Science and Technology; increased support for basic and applied research; and new policies designed to foster modern approaches to collaboration.