Government Funding, Research

About 3 pages (890 words)

Research funding Summary

Government Funding, Research

Government funding of scientific research has a long and fruitful history. The computer revolution was built by the combined efforts of industry, universities, and governments. One of history's first government research and development grants, excluding support for geographic exploration, was given to Charles Babbage (1791–1871), the father of modern computing, in England, in 1823. Babbage was granted an initial sum of 1,500 pounds by the British government to fund the development of his Difference Engine and later given additional monies.

Some ten years later, Babbage turned his attention to designing a new machine, which he called the Analytical Engine. The Analytical Engine had some innovative features including stored memory, algorithms, and the use of punched cards. Babbage had some help in describing the machine and in writing programs for it from Ada Byron King, the Countess of Lovelace (1815–1852). Many people consider her the first computer programmer. Although Babbage did not obtain additional funding from the British government to support his work on the Analytical Engine, and the machine itself was a conceptual design rather than a commercial product, the funding of developmental computer research by governmental agencies had begun.

Just before the start of World War II, Alan Turing (1912–1954) in Cambridge, England, defined the basic theoretical underpinnings of a universal computer. The British defense industry supported his efforts to construct vacuum tube computers able to break military codes from the Germans.

After the war, much of what had been learned in government laboratories, industry, and universities was publicized and used by U.S. companies to build an industrial base for computing. New demands for data and data processing were created by the growing consumer economy. Technological advances made since the end of World War II, including many made possible through the financial support of national governments and military agencies, exponentially increased the power of computer technology between 1945 and 1995.

Since the mid-twentieth century, the United States has become a leader in computing and related communications technology. Tabulating machines, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), real-time, online operating systems, the mouse, the ARPANET, ﾀ the Internet, and microprocessors have been developed through the interaction of government, universities, and industry. For example, the U.S. Census Bureau was one of the first organizations to use both Herman Hollerith's tabulating machines and punched cards and the first viable electronic computer (UNIVAC I).

Research is a vital part of new advances in computer technology. However, computer manufacturers spend an average of only twenty percent of their research and development budgets on research. Research activities carried out in industrial or university laboratories such as IBM's J. T. Watson Research Center, AT&T's Bell Laboratories, and the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) are often funded jointly by industry and government resources.

A recent report by the National Research Council states that in 1996, $1.7 billion was invested in research by computer manufacturers, most of which was carried out in their own facilities. In contrast, federal expenditures for computer research reached almost $960 billion in 1995. Approximately $350 million supported university research; the remainder was distributed to industrial and government laboratories.

The U.S. government provides support for research funding, human resources, and physical facilities (e.g., computers, offices, and equipment). This support for the research infrastructure is intended to create a pool of resources that can benefit a variety of users in both the private and public sectors. For example, when universities receive government support, they can train students, conduct research, and build research facilities.

Federal funding is provided for both basic research and applied research. Federal funding comes from several sources, including the Department of Defense (DoD), which is the largest sponsor of computing and communications research with a particular military emphasis. The DoD's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) provides more support for computer science research than all other federal agencies combined. By the 1970s, the National Science Foundation (NSF) was the second largest supporter of research in computers and communications. The NSF funds basic and university research, providing between forty and forty-five percent of all basic research funding in computer science.

Computers are often used in government-funded studies. For example, the C.E.S.A.R. body research study conducted in 1999 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, used lasers and other technology to take body measurements. The data were to be used by civilian and military entities in gauging clothing and seat sizes.

Many concepts developed by industry and designed into products received their initial funding from government-sponsored research and large-scale government development programs. Some examples include computer core memories, computer time-sharing, the mouse, network packet switching, computer graphics, virtual reality (VR), speech recognition software, and relational databases. The federal government is the primary source of funding for university research in computer science and electrical engineering as well as for research equipment. It is also the primary support for graduate students who study and conduct research in these fields. This support complements industry's efforts to build the technological infrastructure needed to make the United States a leader in computer technology.