TECH WAR“U.S. Is Not Prepared for Waging” Tech War

A new book explores the evolution of the current U.S. research and development enterprise, and asks whether the organization of the U.S. R&D efforts and its structure remain appropriate to the challenges the United States face today.

The book, Tech Wars: Transforming U.S. Technology Development, by Daniel Gerstein, proposes strategies for better preparing for the global technology race shaping our future.

Gerstein notes that across the globe, nation-states and societies, as well as corporations, technology developers, and even individuals, find themselves on the front lines of a global technology race. As we approach the third decade of this century, the outlines of the contest have become clear.

Spending on research and development, such new methods as innovation centers, and inclusion of powerful technologies into governments and society are occurring at a rapid pace. Technology winners and losers are emerging.

How did we arrive at this global technology fight? How and where will it be waged? What can we do to prepare for the future? The book’s ten chapters address these and related questions, examining the conditions which have led the United States to this point.

Gerstein emphasizes that introducing new strategies, organizational changes, and resource allocations will be necessary to help the United States respond to the challenges that are on the horizon.

Gerstein writes:

Tech Wars offers a narrative to describe the technology competition being waged throughout the world today and offers some thoughts on how the U.S. must adapt to be successful in this rapidly evolving, technology rich environment. Early in the book, the question of whether we will characterize this as a competition, conflict, or war was considered. In the end, I have chosen to depict it as a tech war to signify the magnitude and urgency of the issue at hand.

Today, the U.S. is not prepared for waging this war. Absent fundamental changes, our current science and technology advantages will continue to erode. To respond to this urgency, new strategies, organizational changes and resource allocations to our research and development (R&D) enterprise will be required to better posture us to take advantage of the opportunities and respond to the challenges that are on the horizon. Tech Wars provides recommendations for focused approaches to research, development, and innovation to promote U.S. economic prosperity and national security well into the latter decades of the 21st century.