{"71460":{"#nid":"71460","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Study Shows China as World Technology Leader","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study of worldwide technological competitiveness suggests China may soon rival the United States as the principal driver of the world\u0027s economy - a position the U.S. has held since the end of World War II.   If that happens, it will mark the first time in nearly a century that two nations have competed for leadership as equals.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe study\u0027s indicators predict that China will soon pass the United States in the critical ability to develop basic science and technology, turn those developments into products and services - and then market them to the world.  Though China is often seen as just a low-cost producer of manufactured goods, the new \u0027High Tech Indicators\u0027 study done by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology clearly shows that the Asian powerhouse has much bigger aspirations.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022For the first time in nearly a century, we see leadership in basic research and the economic ability to pursue the benefits of that research - to create and market products based on research - in more than one place on the planet,\u0022 said Nils Newman, co-author of the National Science Foundation-supported study.  \u0022Since World War II, the United States has been the main driver of the global economy.  Now we have a situation in which technology products are going to be appearing in the marketplace that were not developed or commercialized here.  We won\u0027t have had any involvement with them and may not even know they are coming.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has been gathering the high tech indicators since the mid-1980s, when the concern was which country would be the \u0027next Japan\u0027 as a competitive producer and exporter of technology products.  The current \u0027HTI-2007\u0027 information was gathered for use in the NSF\u0027s biennial report, \u0027Science and Engineering Indicators,\u0027 the most recent of which was released January 15.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s \u0027High Tech Indicators\u0027 study ranks 33 nations relative to one another on \u0027technological standing,\u0027 an output factor that indicates each nation\u0027s recent success in exporting high technology products. Four major input factors help build future technological standing: national orientation toward technological competitiveness, socioeconomic infrastructure, technological infrastructure and productive capacity. Each of the indicators is based on a combination of statistical data and expert opinions.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA chart showing change in the technological standing of the 33 nations is dominated by one feature - a long and continuous upward line that shows China moving from \u0027in the weeds\u0027 to world technological leadership over the past 15 years.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 2007 statistics show China with a technological standing of 82.8, compared to 76.1 for the United States, 66.8 for Germany and 66.0 for Japan.  Just 11 years ago, China\u0027s score was only 22.5.  The United States peaked in 1999 with a score of 95.4.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022China has really changed the world economic landscape in technology,\u0022 said Alan Porter, another study co-author and co-director of the Georgia Tech Technology Policy and Assessment Center, which conducted the research.  \u0022When you take China\u0027s low-cost manufacturing and focus on technology, then combine them with the increasing emphasis on research and development, the result ultimately won\u0027t leave much room for other countries.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe United States and Japan have both fallen in relative technological standing - though not absolute measures - because of the dramatic rise of China and other nations such as the \u0027Asian Tigers:\u0027 South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.  Japan has faltered a bit over time, and if the increasingly-integrated European Union were considered one entity instead of 27 separate countries, it would surpass the United States.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We are seeing consistent gains for China across all the criteria we measure,\u0022 Newman said.  \u0022As a percentage mover relative to everyone else, we have not seen a stumble for China.  The gains have been dramatic, and there is no real sense that any kind of leveling off is occurring.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMost industrialized countries reach a kind of equilibrium in the study, moving up slightly in one data set, or down slightly in another.  But the study shows no interruptions in China\u0027s advance.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERecent statistics for the value of technology products exported - a key component of technological standing - put China behind the United States by the amount of \u0027a rounding error:\u0027 about $100 million.  If that trend continues, Newman noted, China will shortly pass the United States in that measure of technological leadership. \t\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChina\u0027s emphasis on training scientists and engineers - who conduct the research needed to maintain technological competitiveness - suggests it will continue to grow its ability to innovate.  In the United States, the training of scientists and engineers has lagged, and post-9\/11 immigration barriers have kept out international scholars who could help fill the gap.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022For scientists and engineers, China now has less than half as many as we do, but they have a lot of growing room,\u0022 noted Newman.  \u0022It would be difficult for the United States to get much better in this area, and it would be very easy for us to get worse.  It would be very easy for the Chinese to get better because they have more room to maneuver.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChina is becoming a leader in research and development, Porter noted.  For instance, China now leads the world in publications on nanotechnology, though U.S. papers still receive more citations.  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOn the input indicators calculated for 2007, China lags behind the United States.  In \u0027national orientation,\u0027 China won a score of 62.6, compared to 78.0 for the United States.  In \u0027socioeconomic infrastructure,\u0027 China rated 61.2, compared to 87.9 for the United States.  In the other two factors, China also was behind the U.S., 60.0 versus 95.5 for \u0027technological infrastructure\u0027 and 85.2 versus 93.4 for \u0027productive capacity.\u0027  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EChina has been dramatically improving its input scores, which portends even stronger technological competitiveness in the future.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s like being 40 years old and playing basketball against a competitor who\u0027s only 12 years old - but is already at your height,\u0022 Newman said.  \u0022You are a little better right now and have more experience, but you\u0027re not going to squeeze much more performance out.  The future clearly doesn\u0027t look good for the United States.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia  30308  USA\u003C\/strong\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E).\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E John Toon\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Technology indicators show China ahead of the U.S. in technological standing"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"A new study of worldwide technological competitiveness suggests China may soon rival the United States as the principal driver of the world\u0027s economy - a position the U.S. has held since the end of World War II.   If that happens, it will mark the first time in nearly a century that two nations have competed for leadership as equals.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"China will soon lead the world in technology"}],"uid":"27303","created_gmt":"2008-01-24 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:24","author":"John Toon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2008-01-24T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2008-01-24T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"71461":{"id":"71461","type":"image","title":"Technological standing chart","body":null,"created":"1449177376","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:16:16","changed":"1475894637","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:43:57"}},"media_ids":["71461"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.tpac.gatech.edu\/","title":"Technology Policy and Assessment Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.tpac.gatech.edu\/hti.php","title":"High Tech Indicators study"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"287","name":"Competitiveness"},{"id":"290","name":"Economy"},{"id":"341","name":"innovation"},{"id":"623","name":"Technology"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EJohn Toon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=jt7\u0022\u003EContact John Toon\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-6986\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jtoon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}