Optical fiber and photonics technology have dramatically impacted the way in which the world handles information. The ability to effectively manage and transport ever-increasing amounts of information, over broadband networks, will directly affect the economic vitality of nations and corporations. This paper profiles the development of commercially viable optical fiber and discusses some of the aspects of becoming a world-class competitor in optical telecommunications.

The United States and other governments have increasingly engaged in technology-specific policies toward fields like advanced optics. But the data for making such decisions wisely is not available. Product data, R&D expenditure data, patent data, citation analyses, the industrial census, and technology lists all have serious shortcomings for tracking technical fields like optics. Better information should be obtained through more rigorous data collection on R&D activities and through a series of technology forecasts.

The medical imaging and fiber optics industries are among the most advanced and internationally competitive of all U.S. industries. Because of the importance of such high- technology industries to the economic health of the nation as a whole it is especially important that industry and government analysts have access to timely, accurate, and useful information which permit them to track the production and trade of products in these industries. However, problems of production and trade data availability for the medical imaging and fiber optic industries make it difficult for the analysts to accurately measure and compare changes and shifts in productivity and trade in these important industries.

Fiber optics is a comparatively young but maturing industry. In effect, it's about 11 years old, or nearing maturity since it has been used commercially for about that long, give or take a few years. Fiber optics has been vital for the modernization of our long-distance telecommunications networks and promises untold benefits for all of us in the years to come. Further, it has been identified in government and private sector bodies how `critical' this technology is. Why don't we have commonly accepted statistics about this critical industry? The objective of this paper is to describe the situation in fiber optics data collection today, the reasons why, and what we might be able to do about it.

In this presentation the topic surrounding NSF's role in the growing research area of photonics, i.e., optical communications, optical information processing, optoelectronics, and optical computing, is discussed. In particular, the interaction of university research and industrial participation is explored. Opportunities for joint projects, information exchange, sharing of equipment, expertise, and facilities among research partners is explored. The changing posture of NSF in terms of emphasis on education, cross-disciplinary activities, human resources, and interaction with government labs and industry is introduced.

Information Gatekeepers Inc. has been in the business of collecting and analyzing information in the fiber optics and optoelectronics industries for the past fourteen years through its publishing and consulting businesses. Since optoelectronic technologies are well reported by the scientific journals and conferences, only data on markets, competitive trends, production capabilities, etc., are discussed in this paper. The paper reviews the present situation of private sector data collection on optoelectronics technologies and markets, the problems that exist in data collection, and possible solutions to what is perceived as a serious national problem.

With over 3,000 scientists, engineers, and technicians spread out in some 86 companies, and in 10 universities and research institutes, all within less than a 2 hour drive from one another, Israel has no doubt one of the largest concentrations of researchers and skilled manpower in electro-optics and lasers in the world. This report presents an up-to-date picture of the field in Israel, covering the industry, academia and education. The recent wave of Russian immigration is bringing thousands of scientists and tens of thousands of engineers and is expected to make an impact on the field of electro-optics and lasers. A million immigrants from Russia are expected to come between 1990 and 1995. There were 3,700 scientists and 2,800 engineers among the first 200,000 Soviet immigrants. As most of this qualified manpower can not be expected to be absorbed by the existing industry, the Israeli government is actively encouraging local and foreign investors and local and multinational companies to help develop new and expanded high-tech enterprises in Israel. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has embarked upon a broad ranged program for industrial growth and immigrant absorption with the goal of doubling technology-based exports in the next four years. The Ministry of Science and Technology has started a program supporting R&D projects at the different universities for immigrant scientists with the goal of capitalizing on the talents of the newcomers to strengthen academia.

Taiwan ROC has achieved significant advances in the optoelectronic industry with some Taiwan products ranked high in the world market and technology. Six segmentations of optoelectronic were planned. Each one was divided into several strategic items, design artificial intelligent portfolio tool (AIPT) to analyze the optoelectronic strategic planning in Taiwan. The portfolio is designed to provoke strategic thinking intelligently. This computer- generated strategy should be selected and modified by the individual. Some strategies for the development of the Taiwan optoelectronic industry also are discussed in this paper.

In this paper, an analysis is made of how different firms in Japan and the West have developed competence related to optoelectronics on the basis of their previous experience and corporate strategies. The sample consists of a set of seven Japanese and four Western firms in the industrial, consumer electronics and materials sectors. Optoelectronics is divided into subfields including optical communications systems, optical fibers, optoelectronic key components, liquid crystal displays, optical disks, and others. The relative strengths and weaknesses of companies in the various subfields are determined using the INSPEC database, from 1976 to 1989. Parallel data are analyzed using OTAF U.S. patent statistics and the two sets of data are compared. The statistical analysis from the database is summarized for firms in each subfield in the form of an intra-firm technology index (IFTI), a new technique introduced to assess the revealed technology advantage of firms. The quantitative evaluation is complemented by results from intensive interviews with the management and scientists of the firms involved. The findings show that there is a marked variation in the way firms' technological trajectories have evolved giving rise to strength in some and weakness in other subfields for the different companies, which are related to their accumulated core competencies, previous core business activities, organizational, marketing, and competitive factors.

The essential elements for the successful development of photonics in Taiwan can be attributed to proper government policies and the cooperation among industries, research institutes, and academia. These experiences are presented in this paper.

Rochester, New York: the world's image center, home of Eastman Kodak, Xerox, Bausch and Lomb, and hundreds of other high-tech companies. Rochester has capitalized on its impressive foundation of high-tech industries and focussed the world's attention on its expertise in optics and imaging in recent years. Through the efforts of local industry, education, and community leaders, and with the advantage of significant university and industry-based research in optics and imaging, the `flour' city has evolved into an area with one of the highest concentrations of optics and imaging-related firms in the nation.

New Mexico is very proud of its tri-cultural heritage -- Hispanic, Native American, and Anglo, but that simple description belies the technical richness of the state. If one is in technology and thinks of New Mexico, particularly if involved in the defense community, one thinks of organizations like Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, White Sands Missile Range, and Phillips Laboratory. Phillips Laboratory is one of the new Air Force super laboratories and its activities are focused on space and missile technology. One should appreciate some statistical aspects of the impact of those organizations on New Mexico. In a recent National Science Foundation study, if one looks at R&D performance measured in dollars of activity, on an absolute scale, New Mexico ranks fourth nationally among the 50 states. It also ranks fourth nationally in the university sector in R&D performance. And those two numbers or rankings are not unrelated. You should come to appreciate how we have tried to leverage these strong technology organizations. The private sector ranks only twenty-first, and much of the economic development activity in New Mexico is now attempting to raise this standing by concentrating on the manufacturing sector. What this all means is that, among the 50 states, New Mexico ranks first in the ratio of R&D performance to gross state product. By that measure, technology is more significant to the State of New Mexico than it is to any other state in the Union.

To understand the involvement of the State of Indiana with the Center for Applied Optics at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, it is best to start with an explanation of the Indiana Corporation for Science and Technology (CST), its basic charter and its programs. Established in 1982 as a private not-for-profit corporation, CST was formed to promote economic development within the State of Indiana. Two programs that were initially a part of CST's charter and supported with state dollars were a seed capital investment program, aimed at developing new products and processes, and the establishment of university centers of technology development. The former was conceived to create jobs and new, technologically advanced industries in Indiana. The latter was an attempt to encourage technology transfer from the research laboratories of the state universities to the production lines of Indiana industry. Recently, CST has undergone a name change to the Indiana Business Modernization and Technology Corporation (BMT) and adopted an added responsibility of proactive assistance to small- and medium-sized businesses in order to enhance the state's industrial competitiveness.

A National Technology Center is proposed in order to meet the international challenges to the economy and security of the United States. This center would be tasked with the acquisition, analysis, assessment, and dissemination of worldwide scientific and technical information and data; technology transfer to the United States; and research and development in information and library sciences and technology. The National Technology Center would form a national network linking centers of excellence and expertise, and maintain a national technology library. With these functions, the National Technology Center has inherent requirements for technologies based on photonics, and will further motivate developments in this field.

The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is a new extramural program managed by the Technology Administration's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The purpose of the program is to enhance U.S. competitiveness by funding industry-led precompetitive, generic technology development. While most Federal R&D programs focus either on basic research or on technology development for specific agency mission needs, the ATP is unique in that it provides a mechanism for obtaining funding for innovative, high-risk industrially oriented R&D projects that companies or consortia deem most important to their future. This paper describes the ATP, the awards that resulted from the first competition, and lessons learned. Examples of funded projects related to advanced optics and imaging include `Short Wavelength Sources for Optical Recording' (National Storage Industry Consortium), `Volume Holographic Mass Storage Subsystem' (MCC), and `Precision Optics for Soft X-ray Projection Lithography' (AT&T Bell Laboratories).

The United States clearly needs an explicit policy toward research and development for high technology products and manufacturing processes. Gomory & Schmitt (1988) and Cohen & Zysman (1988) present qualitative arguments that this is so. Our research into the technology of semiconductors, computers, and telecommunication equipment (Norsworthy and Jang, 1992) provides concrete quantitative evidence as well. The costs of research and development and early manufacturing experience coupled with the nearly costless diffusion of the results of these activities, create special economic circumstances in most high technology industries. These circumstances are more complex than economies of scale, but equally powerful in their implications for market behavior. Like economies of scale, these circumstances will favor those organizations and countries whose competitive strategies acknowledge their existence, and most successfully exploit their effects. They involve aspects not only of scale economies, but of public goods, learning curves, the time value of information, and the after tax cost of capital. In this essay we attempt to describe the phenomena and illustrate them by reference to the semiconductor and related industries. It is generally understood that the benefits of research are difficult to capture by the company or industry that undertakes the research; the more basic the research, the more difficult it will generally be for the sponsoring agency to capture its benefits. Therefore, profit-seeking enterprises under conditions of competition will generally undertake less research than would be optimal from the point of view of society as a whole. A number of studies, confirm this general proposition (Griliches, 1987; Mansfield et al., 1982). Their estimates of the overall rate of return to R&D to the whole society is far above the return to private investment in general. These facts have been recognized in federal government policies that encourage research through the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the R&D tax credit, and so forth.

The United States is no longer the world leader in technology -neither in terms of technology development nor technology application! A strong statement? Perhaps. But one that I will substantiate in the next few minutes. Another way to say this is that we, as a nation, have lost our competitive edge! And there's plenty of evidence to support this conclusion. I'll shortly give you some examples. If you're not quite ready to support my premise, let me quote from the recently published report from the Council on Competitiveness entitled "Gaining New Ground: Technology Priorities for America's Future"... "The United States traditionally has been a formidable competitor in world technology markets. American industries such as computers, pharmaceuticals, aircraft and medical instruments are the envy of the world. In recent years, however, many U.S. technology-intensive industries have stumbled in the face of foreign competition. In too many cases, the consequences have been disastrous: the U.S. share of the world machine tool market has slipped from about 50percent to 10 percent; the American-owned consumer electronics industry has been virtually eliminated by foreign competition; and the U.S. merchant semiconductor industry has shifted from dominance to a distant second in world markets." We are not going to regain our leadership position overnight, and there certainly is no magic formula which will bring the United States once again to the technology forefront. However, there is much that we can and should do which will clearly point us in the right direction. In my judgement, technology transfer is one of the key ingredients in re-establishing America's competitive strength, by improving effective commercialization of research. High Technology of Rochester has, as one of its missions, the "care and feeding" of the technology transfer process in Rochester and I'd like to briefly review with you HTR's strategies and programs to facilitate this process.

Standards publications being developed by scientists, engineers, and business managers in the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) standards committees can be applied to `electronic image management' (EIM) processes including: document image transfer, retrieval and evaluation; optical disk and document scanning; and document design and conversion. When combined with EIM system planning and operations, standards can help generate image databases that are interchangeable among a variety of systems. AIIM is an accredited American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards developer with more than twenty committees. The committees are comprised of 300 volunteers representing users, vendors, and manufacturers. The standards publications that are developed in these committees have national acceptance. They provide the basis for international harmonization in the development of new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. Until standard implementation parameters are established, the application of different approaches to image management cause uncertainty in EIM system compatibility, calibration, performance, and upward compatibility. The AIIM standards for these applications can be used to decrease the uncertainty, successfully integrate imaging processes, and promote `open systems.' This paper describes AIIM's EIM standards and a new effort at AIIM, a database on standards projects in a wide framework, including image capture, recording, processing, duplication, distribution, display, evaluation, preservation, and media. The AIIM Imagery Database covers imaging standards being developed by many organizations in many different countries. It contains standards publications' dates, origins, related national and international projects, status, keywords, and abstracts. The ANSI Image Technology Standards Board (ITSB) requested that such a database be established, as did the International Standards Organization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) Joint Task Force on Imagery. AIIM will take the lead for the database and coordinate its development with several standards developing organizations (SDOs).

This study, based on a national survey of U.S. government laboratories, assesses the degree of success laboratories have had in transferring technology to industry, taking into account the laboratories' differing receptivity to market influences. Three success criteria are considered here, two based on self-evaluations and a third based on the number of technology licenses issued from the laboratory. The two self-evaluations are rooted in different types of effectiveness, `getting technology out the door,' in one case, and, in the other, having a demonstrable commercial impact. A core hypothesis of the study is that the two types of effectiveness will be responsive to different factors and, in particular, the laboratories with a clearer market orientation will have a higher degree of success on the commercial impact and technology license criteria. Overall, the results seem to suggest that multifaceted, multimission laboratories are likely to enjoy the most success in technology transfer, especially if they have relatively low levels of bureaucratization and either ties to industry (particularly direct financial ties) or a commercial orientation in the selection of projects.

In 1980, Congress enacted the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act to encourage federal laboratories to `spin off' their technology to industry, universities, and state and local governments. The law reflected Congressional concern for the economic well-being of the nation and the need for the United States to maintain its technological superiority. Almost half the nation's research is conducted in federal laboratories. Other legislation, the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 and the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984, was followed by the Technology Transfer Act of 1986 that strengthened and consolidated policy concerning the technology transfer responsibilities of the federal labs. The law allows the labs to directly license their patents and permits the issuance of exclusive licenses. It allows the labs to enter into cooperative research and development agreements with industry, universities, and state and local governments. It institutionalized the Federal Laboratory consortium which, to that point in time, had been a formal but largely unrecognized body. Under the provisions of the law, the United States Air Force Rome Laboratory located in Rome, New York, as the Air Force lead laboratory in photonics research entered into an agreement with the Governor of the State of New York to collaborate in photonics research and development. Subsequent to that agreement, the state established the not-for-profit New York State Photonics Development Corporation in Rome to facilitate business access to Rome Laboratory's photonics research facilities and technologies. Rome Laboratory's photonics research and development program is described in this paper. The Technology Transfer Act of 1986 is summarized, and the roles and missions of the New York State Photonics Development Corporation is explained.

There are two main points to be covered in this paper; one deals with the question of why we should be interested in standardization in the first place. The second point considers why we should be more interested in international standards than domestic standards, assuming we have an interest at all. We argue that we should be interested in standards for optical goods for the same reason we believe in logic and scientific principles -- that no amount of charisma is going to change the fact that 2 plus 2 is 4. Regarding the second point, if one concludes that standards are worthwhile, why settle for half the loaf? We are now in a truly global market, even more so with recent events in Eastern Europe and the USSR, and the only way to take full advantage of that market is through international standards.

The recent and rapid development of sophisticated technologies and products has resulted in an imaging revolution across many segments of the population, from the military to the medical communities. In particular, electronic imaging is increasingly changing the way in which society provides information, conducts its business, entertains itself, an even designs and simulates its future activities. The educational sector is attempting to keep pace with the new skill-needs precipitated by the emergence of electronic imaging. Comprehensive programs in imaging science call for bringing together the more traditional disciplines such as physics, mathematics, and optics, with newer ones such as computer science, image processing, digital graphics, and so on. Based on its historical strengths, Rochester Institute of Technology has taken a leadership position in bringing together these fields and establishing imaging as an institute-wide theme. The creation of the Center for Imaging Science represents the most obvious example of this commitment, with its specific undergraduate and graduate programs in imaging science. It is noteworthy that these programs have been developed and fostered in close partnership with the imaging industry.

Rapid technological advances and the declining educational preparedness of industrial workers has established a need for new training strategies and initiatives regarding human resource development. The productivity, competitiveness, motivation, and creativity of our people determines whether our business enterprises succeed or fail during the next decade. Due to a change process that many organizations have undertaken to become more competitive toward the year 2000, many of the previous styles of engineering leadership that involves the management of projects and human resources require new approaches. It is also important to recognize that technology has its limits and a broader focus to include the human aspects of accomplishing jobs over the long term is more critical than ever before. More autonomy and the responsibility for broader practices by the professional staff requires that the professional worker operate differently. Business planning and development of the organization's future strategic intent requires a high priority on the human resource linkage to the business plans and strategies. A review of past practices to motivate the worker toward higher productivity clearly shows that past techniques are not as effective in today's work environment. Many practices of organizational and individual leadership don't fit today's approach of worker involvement because they were designed for administrative supervisory control processes. Therefore, if we are going to organize a business strategy that prevents the `waste of human resources,' we need to develop a strategy that is appropriate for the times which considers the attitude of the employees and their work environment. Having worked with scientists and engineers for the majority of my twenty-five year career, I know they see and appreciate the logic of a formula. A formula fits when developing a future strategy because a formula can become a model to enhance balanced planning. In this paper, I want to share this simple formula and illustrate how I have utilized it as a tool for workshop discussions, and human resources planning purposes.

Traditional job description techniques were developed to support compensation decisions for hourly wage earners in a manufacturing environment. Their resultant focus on activities performed on the job works well in this environment where the ability to perform the activity adequately is objectively verifiable by testing and observation. Although many organizations have adapted these techniques for salaried employees and service environments, the focus on activities performed has never been satisfactory. For example, stating that a project manager `prepares regular project status reports' tells us little about what to look for in a potential project manager or how to determine if a practicing project manager is ready for additional responsibilities. The concept of a `competency model' has been developed within the last decade to address this shortcoming. Competency models focus on what skills are needed to perform the tasks defined by the job description. For example, a project manager must be able to communicate well both orally and in writing in order to `prepare regular project status reports.'

We are facing here today the key issues that face us in the competitive environment. North American companies are struggling to compete in the global marketplace. Gone are the days when presence ensured success. Then, sales and earnings were guaranteed. Today the competition is intense. Many manufacturing and service companies are no longer competitive. Traditionally, manufacturing companies have created the most wealth for the community and economy. Losing this ability to create wealth is tragic and unnecessary. A company can only be successful by focusing on customer satisfaction at competitive costs. Revenue growth and earnings growth require a continuous stream of products that anticipate the customers' needs, result from shorter and shorter innovation cycles, continually improve in quality, and are produced at improved costs on each cycle. The best opportunities for increased quality and decreased costs are with new products. Sure, work on quality and costs everyday. The biggest changes, however, will come through the new product development cycle. We must improve our development processes to provide leadership products which result in high levels of customer satisfaction. This is a prerequisite for business success. When presence in the marketplace was a virtual guarantee of success for a North American company, technology tended to drive the products, and the customers bought virtually everything that was produced. Functional excellence was stressed within companies ... and that was enough. Effective planning processes were not a prerequisite for success. Today success demands highly developed business research and planning processes, and functional excellence combined with organizational capabilities that ensure commercialization excellence.

During 1983-84, Xerox Corporation was undergoing a change in corporate style through a process of training and altered behavior known as Leadership Through Quality. One tenet of Leadership Through Quality was benchmarking, a procedure whereby all units of the corporation were asked to compare their operation with the outside world. As a part of the first wave of benchmark studies, Xerox Corporate Research Group studied the processes of research management, technology transfer, and research planning in twelve American and Japanese companies. The approach taken was to separate `research yield' and `research productivity' (as defined by Richard Foster) and to seek information about how these companies sought to achieve high- quality results in these two parameters. The most significant findings include the influence of company culture, two different possible research missions (an innovation resource and an information resource), and the importance of systematic personal interaction between sources and targets of technology transfer.

It is without dispute that there are distinct advantages to being a large business. However, what is not as well recognized are the advantages associated with `smaller' organizations: a more focused and synergized team, quicker customer service and response time, more flexibility to test new ideas and concepts, enhanced employee creativity and motivation, and the capability to work closely with the customer and address their individual product wants and needs. These advantages can provide small businesses with the competitive edge needed to succeed in today's dynamic marketplace. Coupling the same basic foundational criteria used by successful large corporations, e.g., a strong vision, integrity, corporate culture, clear organizational objectives and goals, with the business techniques and implementation strategies more commonly associated with smaller organizations, establishes a strong foundation upon which any company can build. Integrating strong tactical and strategic planning, professional competence, challenging and rigorous work assignments, assertiveness, dedication, and innovative technologies yields high quality, state-of-the-art products and services designed to enhance productivity and efficiency. This paper analyzes both small and large businesses in regard to sources of competitive advantage. It also addresses some of my experiences with the start-up and growth of an optics-related consulting, software development, and publishing company.

Most, if not all projects, whether it is the development of a new product, a new process or fundamental research, if it requires creativity, ingenuity and some luck to meet the project objectives, will be started with a degree of uncertainty. However, in spite of this uncertainty, Project Sponsors and Company Management often require Project Managers to commit to delivery dates, performance metrics, development dollars, capital dollars, etc. Unfortunately, these early commitments are usually not able to be upheld, which leads to one or more iterations of requests for additional funding, changes to functional requirements, schedule extensions and possible compromises in the quality of the project. These "go arounds" between Project Managers and Project Sponsors can lead to much frustration, are time consuming, and often result in a compromise to the project objectives. Through the use of a Phased Development Approach, we have been able to create a more reasonable method for dealing with project risk and uncertainty. Worldwide Phase Management for New Product Development is a process that has significantly improved the establishment of delivery dates, forecasts for funding requirements, communication and understanding of expectations between a Project Team and the Project Sponsor. In addition, a consistent methodology for New Development Projects has resulted in a more productive development environment that results in shorter product development life cycles.