Support for Development of Electronics and Materials Technologies by the Governments of the United States, Japan, West Germany, France, and the United Kingdom

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed: (1) government policies and programs in the United States, Japan, West Germany, France, and the United Kingdom that contribute to the development of electronic and material technologies; (2) how much research and development (R&D) the U.S. has funded; and (3) each country's overall investment in and organization to support R&D.

GAO found that: (1) all five governments have started major programs to develop new electronics technologies, but there were differences among the countries in the emphasis of their R&D efforts; (2) each country has created an extensive relationship with government agencies for performing publicly funded R&D; (3) there is no single agency with the responsibility for supporting the development of technology for use by industry in the United States; and (4) one or two agencies support R&D by universities and industry in each of the other countries. GAO also found that: (1) the governments plan to use very large scale integrated circuits to advance computer capability for purposes such as artificial intelligence; (2) the European governments have provided extensive support for technology development in an effort to make their industries competitive with the United States and Japan; (3) about 65 percent of U.S. support was for defense research; and (4) all five countries have tax provisions that affect private sector R&D.