Other Research

Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited:Rapidly Approaching Category 5

Rising Above the Storm is a report by 20 individuals of diverse professional backgrounds supported by the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine ("the Academies"). The 2005 report was commissioned by the Federal Government to determine the top ten Federal Government priorities to enhance science and technology to enable the United States to compete globally, prosper and be secure. Five years later, the Academies came together again to tackle the issue. Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited argues that for progress to be sustained, the government must 1) reauthorize the America COMPETES Act, and 2) institutionalize funding and management of the Gathering Storm recommendations. The original report focused on the need for sustained change to alter the negative course of lack of American competitiveness in the global economy. This report assessed the change in competitiveness since the first publication, and argued that the outlook has gotten worse. The public school system hardly improved particularly in math and science while other nations have been progressing, so the United States is relatively less competitive. The report concluded that innovation in science and engineering will drive the future economy and will create jobs.