This project is completing the public COMETS database integrating data on science and technology inputs and outputs in order to better understand innovation and the success of high-technology firms. COMETS and related on-line and on-site archives provide researchers the necessary tools to answer a wide range of important scientific and policy questions in the science of science and innovation policy (SciSIP). The project goes a long way toward eliminating the data bottleneck which has impeded SciSIP progress. It does this by integrating legacy databases on federal grants, universities, publications, dissertations, patents, and new and established high-technology firms in a single database with identifiers which link each appearance of an organization or scientist. The project maximizes the availability of fully public data at COMETS by developing and incorporating copyright-free and open-source alternatives to these data. Two demonstration projects (a) show the conceptual power and policy relevance of an integrated database combining public and licensed databases and (b) illustrate uses of COMETS while stress-testing the computer-matched codes used to identify each appearance of an organization or scientist.
The intellectual merit of this project is based on conceptualizing and implementing construction of a very large coherent integrated database covering the national innovation system from government grants, laboratories, and policies through basic discoveries and their application to new commercial technologies driving the formation and transformation of high-technology industries. Reporting burden is minimized by using public information already collected for reference, reporting, marketing, and administrative purposes - unobtrusive measures that require no additional effort although a mechanism is provided for organizations and scientists to correct any errors in matching records within and across the legacy databases.
Broader Impact: This project has broad impact on SciSIP research and ultimately on economic growth and the standard of living. First, the project provides the research community with a platform technology which enables a quantum leap in the sophistication and reliability of SciSIP research since knowledge creation can be observed at the organization and individual scientist level. Second, since technological progress and rising educational levels are the two main factors determining growth in the advanced economies of the world, research enabled by this project can lead to improved science and innovation policies which increase technological progress and economic growth.
