Arlington, Va. – Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) President Dave McCurdy today sent a letter to Congressional appropriators supporting full funding in the 2005 budget for the Advanced Technology Program (ATP). The ATP has been targeted for elimination in the budget proposal, but EIA is concerned that the loss of this valuable program will weaken the U.S. innovation structure. The ATP, which is administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is a public-private partnership that accelerates the commercialization of new technologies and encourages industry investment in long-term, high-risk research and development.

"The bottom-line value of investing in R&D for next-generation innovations has never been more apparent," said McCurdy in the letter. "A Harvard Business Review study of high-tech firms shows that next-generation innovations – which represent only 14% of product launches and 38% of revenue – generate 61% of profits. The research that the ATP encourages is the foundation for future jobs and growth in this country."

About half of the project research areas funded by the ATP since it began in 1990 have been in the electronics, computer hardware, communications and information technology fields. EIA urged key appropriators – including Senators Judd Gregg and Ernest Hollings and Congressmen Frank Wolf and José Serrano of the Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary Appropriations Subcommittees – to restore and fully fund the ATP at fiscal year 2003 levels.

Full funding for the ATP is one of several proposals related to R&D policy in the recently released EIA policy playbook, "The Technology Industry at an Innovation Crossroads." The entire playbook can be accessed here.