Friday, March 27, 2009

Stimulus for Science & Technology

Now that Obama's $787B stimulus plan (ARRA -America Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009) has moved into action, let us take a look at the one time bonanza Science & Technology is getting. Depending on how you classify the various line items the amount allocated for Science & Technology can vary from $55 Billion to $65 Billion to be spent in the next two years.

The major items for scientific research are:

1. $10.4B to National Institute of Health (NIH)
2. $1.12B to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
3. $3B to National Science Foundation
4. $2B to the United States Department of Energy
5. $1.3B to University Research Facilities
6. $1B to NASA
7. $830M to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
8. $580M to National Institute of Standards and Technology
9. $140M to United States Geological Survey

Check the web sites for the above agencies to find out the details for usage of the funds.

The major items for Technology are: (I am not sure how one can track these - but check out Recovery.gov which is supposed to provide the information related to AARA fund usage)

1. $19B for Health Information Technology (of which $17.2B will be incentives provided through Medicare & Medicaid)
2. $11B for an electric 'smart grid'
3. $7.5B for complete broadband and wireless access
4. $2.5B for energy efficiency research
5. $2 B for advanced car battery systems
6. $400M for electric vehicle technologies

Not only do these provide great opportunities for research, but also will result in signifiant benefit to the economy in the next few years.

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