Frontiers in Science and Innovation Policy

In 2021, experts at the center teamed up to examine the inner workings of the American R&D system, forming a new initiative: Frontiers in Science and Innovation Policy (FSIP).

The initiative is charged with exploring the economic and political forces shaping scientific innovation and examining how the U.S. can revitalize its research and innovation system to address the challenges of today’s world.

FSIP approaches its research with the guiding premise that there are three primary strategic U.S. approaches to science and technology policy.

• Maintain and benefit from the global system of research and innovation
• Identify frontiers in which the U.S. and its allies must lead
• Identify areas where broader global collaboration is desirable

About the Program

Led by two top science and technology policy leaders – Robert Conn and Peter Cowhey – FSIP supports new scholarship to inform and evaluate U.S. science and innovation policy under the current administration and its successors.

Robust, data-driven analysis will be a valuable resource for policymakers as they consider options for allocating resources and the potential outcomes of specific policies, as well as for industry stakeholders in science and innovation as they assess their choices for business development and acquisition.

Activities

Rigorous research is the hallmark of all GPS initiatives. Here is a sampling of work:

• Collaborated with the Science Philanthropy Alliance to release a report on how philanthropy keeps America at the forefront of innovation 
• A report on how private giving can sustain U.S. leadership in discovery and calls for stronger alignment between government and philanthropic funding
• Commentary on the risks to national competitiveness posed by restrictive policies on foreign-born students 
• Insights on how universities can adapt to the sweeping changes transforming the research enterprise
• NSF-funded research on how to better incentivize productive risk-taking in federal R&D
• Contributed to the NSF’s Technology Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate, helping assess national challenges and needed tech investments

Next up for FSIP

Next up for FSIP is expanding its focus and tackling issues at the intersection of digital regulatory policy and international economic policy, and migration, with a focus on high-skill immigration. 

Cowhey explores this topic in two recent works: one on emerging patterns of digital regulation and trade policy in the Asia-Pacific region and another that analyzes the choices facing Korea on these issues. In the pipeline, he and colleagues are looking at some of these issues for the European Union, especially in relation to China.

This year FSIP will also support an interdisciplinary team of faculty working on the topic of migration, including a focus on high-skill migration to the U.S.

Reimagining America’s innovation engine

Learn how the FSIP initiative is uncovering what it will take for the U.S. to lead in research and technology, from smarter public-private partnerships to forward-thinking policies on talent and investment.

How Innovation Leads