White House outlines FY-21 R&D priorities

By John Liang / September 3, 2019 at 10:28 AM

The Trump administration has issued a memo outlining its fiscal year 2021 research and development budget priorities.

The memo -- signed by acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Kelvin Droegemeier -- discusses the United States' rise as a global science and technology leader following World War II, "during which the Federal Government began investing significantly in basic and applied research, infrastructure, and education across many disciplines. From then until now -- during America's First Bold Era in S&T -- these Federal investments helped create a massive, multisector American S&T enterprise consisting of Federal agencies, world-leading colleges and universities, private industry, non-profit organizations, and Federal and National Laboratories."

The resulting innovations "laid the foundation for today's Second Bold Era in S&T -- one characterized by unprecedented knowledge, access to data and computing resources, ubiquitous and instant communication, and technologies that allow us to peer into the inner workings of atomic particles as well as the vastness of the universe," the memo states. "Unfortunately, this Second Bold Era also features new and extraordinary threats which must be confronted thoughtfully and effectively."

Vought's and Droegemeier's memo "provides direction to enable this Second Bold Era as part of a longer-term, multisector, national strategy to advance bold, transformational leaps in S&T, build a diverse workforce of the future, solve previously intractable grand challenges, and ensure America remains the global S&T leader for generations to come."

Read the full memo here.

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