
Eric Schmidt's 6 proposals for the US to beat China in critical technologies - hinchlt
https://sociable.co/technology/eric-schmidt-proposals-us-china-critical-technologies/
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mdorazio
Here are the proposals (ultra-summarized):

\- Double R&D funding

\- Invest in nationwide "foundational infrastructure"

\- Implement federal multi-year flexible grants for individuals

\- Increase "Government–Industry–Academia Collaborations"

\- Improve talent retention and get more tech talent into government

\- Build public confidence in the benefits of new technologies

Here's the problem I see with all of these: all but the last one mean spending
significantly more tax dollars on tech, and to date I have seen zero appetite
for that from either mainstream politicians _or_ the non-valley public.  What
we seem to have is a situation where US technology development has effectively
been outsourced to private corporations, which are often quite happy to
outsource it again to other countries if it means better profit margins. 
Meanwhile, the general public wants their tax dollars to fund things they
actually feel every day, like basic infrastructure, education, and healthcare. 
It's not at all clear where the push to get Schmidt's proposals moving would
come from. 

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hinchlt
The funding is already being proposed in the same House Committee with the
"Securing American Leadership in Science and Technology Act" \-- which
proposes doubling basic research funding over the next decade at the Energy
Department, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Science and
Technology, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

Perhaps if Schmidt's last point about building public confidence is
successful, maybe public opinion would be in favor of it. 

At the same time, the irony isn't lost on me that the former CEO of Google is
warning about authoritarian tech. 

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mdorazio
I could be mistaken, but I believe these sorts of funding proposals happen
routinely in House committees and very rarely get approved. 

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hinchlt
You may very well be correct. 

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asdfasdf1231
> My concern is that China tries to fulfill a vision of high-tech
> authoritarianism

Is he afraid that china implements their own version of captcha(tm).  Leaving
Google and the private sector out of the loop of monetizing censorship?