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 THE STAT 26Percentage of wireless customers who use their cell phones to take picturesMore Vitals
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MARCH 16, 2004
Gunning for the U.S. in Technology [Page 3 of 3] RECORD TRADE GAP. That may help explain what appears to be a relative decline in U.S. research. According to Thomson ISI, which tracks information on global R&D, in 1999 European Union scientists surpassed those in the U.S. in terms of the total number of papers published in leading scientific journals such as Nature and Science. Just as sobering, key statistics seem to point to America's growing inability to dominate markets for tech equipment. In 1992, the U.S. exported about $35 billion more in high-tech equipment and goods than it imported. By 2002, according to the American Electronics Assn, the U.S. racked up a record trade deficit of $54 billion in tech goods. That coincided with a 10% drop in U.S. tech employment from 2000 to 2002. The increasing competition the U.S. faces is to an extent a natural outgrowth of the global information economy, better communications networks, and evolutionary forces. "It's a natural consequence," says SRI's Carlson. "The U.S. has only about 8% of the world's scientists. It's inevitable that centers of excellence will spring up elsewhere." STILL TOPS. Even so, the U.S. still has the lead in the technology business, plus many advantages when it comes to trying to keep it. America's universities continue to attract the best and the brightest students without breaking much of a sweat. Go to China, Europe, or India and the talk isn't of global dominance but of stopping the exodus that has sent top innovators to the U.S., where they generally stayed. "We're still the world's leader by any measure," says CalTech's Goodstein. Experts even see evidence of America's strength in the telecom, software, and other high-tech gear sold by Chinese networking company Huawei and the mobile phones sold by Nokia (NOK ). "If you look at those examples, the technologies are built atop an architecture from the U.S.," says Sun's Papadopoulos. He expects U.S. researchers to now focus on broader issues of technology architecture that will add greater value than merely designing a faster chip or a better material. "I see no indications that China or India or anyone else is going to drive the next wave of conceptual thinking," he says. "So unless we fail to invest properly in education or to exploit the culture we have, I don't see a threat to our ability to shape what the global technology ecosystem will look like." WORLDWIDE RACE. Presumed threats to the U.S. economy in the past -- most notably, the Japanese challenge in the 1980s -- have yet to deliver on the doomsday scenarios that were painted at those times. Yet never before have so many countries in the world sought to emulate the U.S. system of innovation. As more brilliant researchers steer clear of the U.S. and more and startups appear in emerging economies, a worldwide technology race is taking shape. And it promises to be a marathon.
 By Alex Salkever, Technology editor for BusinessWeek Online
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