Science and technology policy: is there more to it than just R&D funding?

When one attends a conference on science and technology policy, most of what one hears is a lament about how the government needs to spend more on research and development (R&D). This paper provides a brief history of science and technology policy, including the differing models of innovation (linear vs. chain-linked), and link those to debates of which institutions are responsible for funding and performing specific types of R&D. The paper then discusses the need of the policy community to go beyond funding debates by highlighting the industrial changes that have occurred over the past few decades and propose new avenues of research for the policy community. The paper also discusses the role that the IEEE-USA Technology Policy Committees could play.