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US tech edge slipping in the hands of Asians: Report
By siliconindia staff writer
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Friday, 08 October 2004, 19:30 IST
WASHINGTON: US technological superiority, long taken for granted, may be slipping and 'the most serious threat' is coming from Asian countries like India, China, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, a media report says.
Indian companies are quickly becoming the second largest producers of application services in the world, developing, supplying, and managing database and other types of software for clients around the world, senior fellow in China Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations Adam Segal writes in the November-December issue of Foreign Affairs magazine.
South Korea has "rapidly eaten away" the US advantage in the manufacture of computer chips and telecommunications software, and "even China" has made impressive gains in advanced technologies such as lasers, biotechnology and advanced materials used in semiconductors, aerospace and many other types of manufacturing, Segal says in the article.
Although the US technical dominance remains solid, the globalisation of research and development is exerting considerable pressure on the American system. It won't be easy for the US to keep its privileged position in the world.
The number of Americans pursuing advanced degrees in the sciences and engineering is declining, and university science and engineering programmes are growing more dependent on foreign-born talent. Thirty-eight per cent of the nation's scientists and engineers with doctorates were born abroad, the article says.