Administration Officials Call for R&D Investments to Preserve National Security, Economic Competitiveness

Administration officials recently called on executive departments and agencies to invest in various research and development endeavors that would help preserve national security and promote economic competitiveness. 

Federal agencies should invest in technologies relevant to automation, advanced computing, next-generation manufacturing, spaceflight, clean and affordable energy, medicine and agriculture, Mike Mulvaney, Office of Management and Budget director, and Michael Kratsios, deputy assistant to the president at the Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a memo released Monday.

The memo details the R&D priorities of the Trump administration and serves as a guide for agencies when they develop budget proposals for fiscal year 2020.

It also describes practices that government agencies could promote to maximize R&D resources and personnel.

These priority practices include an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education; the maintenance and innovative management of R&D assets and infrastructure; and the promotion of public-private collaborations.

Such practices, paired with federally funded R&D investments, would “strengthen the nation’s innovation base and position the United States for unparalleled job growth, continued prosperity, and national security.”