America's innovative edge at risk.

• Position: YOUR LIFE

The global landscape for science and technology is changing, with increased competition for resources and recognition. That is beginning to look like bad news for the innovative edge the U.S. long has enjoyed. "Will the United States own the technology of the future? Probably not all of it, and only if we compete harder to maintain our current position," cautions Diana Hicks, professor and chair of the Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Public Policy, Atlanta.

Since many foreign governments have been strengthening their educational and research programs, the gap is closing between America and its overseas competitors, with Asian nations--China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and India--showing particular gains.

Hicks presents a number of bench-marks that raise concern for this country:

Larger talent pool. More Asians, especially the Chinese, earn doctoral degrees. At the same time, the number of U.S. citizens pursuing doctoral degrees has been decreasing. In addition, the amount of Asian students who study for doctoral degrees in the U.S. is dropping. That is disturbing because those students had helped make up for the dearth of U.S.-born students who enrolled in science and engineering. Foreign students often remain in the U.S. for research jobs, contributing to the nation's knowledge base.

Increased R&D spending. From 1995-2001, China, South Korea, and Taiwan increased gross research and development spending by about 140%, while the U.S. went up by 34%. Moreover, 68% of all domestic R&D funds in the U.S. now comes from the private sector. Nearly three-fourths of this money goes toward development instead of basic research (in which researchers try to gain greater knowledge of a subject without specific applications in mind).

Patent growth. Since 1988, the number of U.S. patent applications for innovations originating in Asia increased 789%, with South Korea evidencing especially strong gains. In contrast, U.S. patent applications for homegrown...