View from the top: The race for high-tech supremacy: In order to maintain market superiority, high-tech industries must increase R&D efforts; government, academia, and industry need to join forces

High-tech industries will be the basic industries of tomorrow and, therefore, the cornerstone of the economy of any country that wants to be in a leadership position. In the United States, the strengths of the industry are innovation, a competitive free-market environment, skilled labor, and a broad and technically educated infrastructure. But the U.S. high-tech industry also has problems — mainly the cost and availability of capital, a diffuse research and development effort, and inattention to manufacturing technology and quality. In order for the United States to keep its competitive edge — particularly against its major trading partners, such as Japan — R&D efforts need to be stepped up, and a new relationship must be forged among government, academia, and industry.