Industry as a Customer of the Federal Laboratories.

Abstract
In many ways, the Federal laboratories are a microcosm of the broader competitiveness challenges facing the United States. Set up at different times to accomplish different missions, they are geared more to the Cold War era that is behind us than to the era of intense international economic competition in which we now find ourselves. Like many of the policies and institutions that were developed during the post-war period, much of the work at the labs needs to be refocused to address contemporary problems. Refocusing the activities of the Federal labs, however, entails risk as well as opportunity. Risk, in that they constitute a major national resource which could be squandered if we fall to manage the transition appropriately. Opportunity, in that they represent important capabilities which can be harnessed to strengthen U.S. industry's technological performance. It is essential that U.S. policymakers, the business community and the labs themselves approach this transition with a strategy and realistic expectations, instead of just letting it happen. There is no doubt that the United States should make every effort to enhance laboratory-industry cooperation in the years ahead. The national investment that we have made in these facilities is simply too great to ignore. But we must not let the need to refocus the labs cloud our view of the contribution that they can realistically make to U.S. industrial performance. Many business executives doubt that U.S. industry will derive significant new technological benefits from the Federal labs and caution against holding up technology transfer from the labs to industry as the answer to our competitiveness problems. To do so would not only be unrealistic, but also could ultimately create deep cynicism about the prospects for technology transfer.

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