Research and Development. (Industry Watch).

Research and Development: The Industrial Research Institute's (IRI) Research-on-Research Committee recently presented the results of its R&D trends forecast for 2003. The forecast is based on a survey of IRI's member companies. The majority of the companies surveyed predict R&D spending

will grow less than 5% in 2003. Twenty-five percent plan to either keep R&D and capital spending levels the same or reduce them. Another 33% plan to increase R&D spending 2.5% or less, while 50% plan to increase capital spending 2.5% or less. Only 20% of companies surveyed plan to increase new project spending 5% or more compared to 50% in 2001. The percentage of companies planning to invest 5% or more in directed basic research is dwindling. Half of the respondents confirmed plans to increase collaborations and alliances in 2003. Increased collaborations between industry and federal labs are also predicted, even though industry spending has surpassed federal spending on R&D in recent years.

Source: Chemical & Engineering News