After years of stagnation, funding for R&D in the US may increase this year, according to Battelle, a technology research organization in Columbus, Ohio, and R&D Magazine.
They predict R&D spending will grow to more than $215 billion, an increase from the $206 billion the National Science Foundation estimated for 1997. Of that amount, the federal government will contribute $62.9 billion, a slight rise over last year. Industry will invest $143 billion, up 6 percent.
Before 1980, the government funded more than 50 percent of R&D. Since then, the federal share has dropped to less than 30 percent -- a percentage Battelle and R&D Magazine anticipate will continue to decline.