A while back, I was visited by two civil servants. And they said to me that people in high places doubted that computing research existed and could I help them do something about this. This was a bit of a surprise, because when you've devoted yourself to something for 40 years, to be told it doesn't exist is a bit odd. But I subsequently found that this strange view is not confined to the British Civil Service. I think people get strange ideas about computing research first because computer science isn't science.
Scientists seek to unpick the secrets of nature.
Computing researchers are trying to make something happen and obtain the necessary knowledge and understanding so that they can. Computing research is there to set the agenda for the future. Research doesn't make products, it doesn't sell things, but it provides the insights, the skills and the understanding that enables people to make the things that will be the stuff of the future. If you're a small company, you can get your agenda out of the intellectual atmosphere around you just by being alert. If you're a big company, or a university, you can't.