Humanity’s progress has been driven by scientific and technological innovation.  Approximately half of annual GDP growth in the U.S. can be attributed to increases in innovation and there is a clear statistical link between innovation and gains in the standard of living.  Our greatest leaps have been facilitated by investments in open ended research and development, but the innovation pace has waned considerably over the past four decades which has led to stagnating growth in wages and living standards, as well as an unbalanced distribution of gains.

‍

What has caused this decline? Traditional roles in research and development investment have historically been centralised in government and corporate interests.  The government plays a critical role in financing basic research, in the U.S. through government agencies such as NASA as well as funding provided to academia.  The government can sponsor basic research that can affect multiple industries.  In the post WW2 years, the private sector also invested heavily in scientists and research facilities which led to some very profitable discoveries.

‍

But both have significantly cut their funding for open research and development over the past four decades.  Government investment in research and development as a percent of GDP has declined from a high of 2.2% in 1964 to 1% today.  Private sector labs have been downsized, closed, or redirected to applied research where quick payoffs can be entirely captured, neglecting the open research that underpins groundbreaking innovation.  The number of publicly traded companies publishing research in scientific journals has dropped from 17% in 1980 to only 6% today and less than 5% of the research and development they perform is in basic research.

‍

“The thing about basic research that is so, so valuable is that you are creating something that is a public good, something anyone can use.  This is why it spurs innovation and creates growth and technical change in the whole economy.  But from an individual company’s standpoint, it also means you are making the investment and somebody else is reaping the benefit.” - Sharon Belenzon

‍

If the consensus is that economic and societal prosperity is achieved largely through scientific and technological innovation, it follows that broad participation and therefore benefit is most desirable.  The means to improve upon the existing state of innovation is possible, we are creating a decentralised network driven by the community and collaborators to coordinate around innovative projects, backed by an economy where rewards are distributed to those who finance and create the value.  By moving onto the blockchain and backing the community with our own cryptocurrency, we are creating a network that cannot be manipulated or controlled.  We are eliminating the innovation bottleneck to realise exponential societal, economical and cultural advancements.

‍

If you are interested, want to help realise this future, or want to learn how to support, I invite you to visit our website and sign up for our newsletter: rloop.org