MIT校长评中美科技:没有人能从他人的失败中获得成功

MIT校长评中美科技:没有人能从他人的失败中获得成功
2020年06月03日 23:01 数据猿

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本文翻译自MIT校长于美国时间6月1日发表的文章,文章主要是称赞美国最新通过的“无限前沿法”。但众所周知,“无限前沿法”本身就是为了应对中国的挑战而来。因此,本文将题目改成“MIT校长评中美科技”,稍嫌有点标题党,但还是不过分的。

The COVID-19 pandemic is intensifying U.S.concerns about China’s technological strength. Unfortunately, much of the resulting policy debate has centered on ways to limit China’s capacities — when what we need most is a systematic approach to strengthening our own. In any race, success comes from training harder and running faster — not from hoping that your challenger will trip. To guarantee our nation’s future economic health and national security, we need a comprehensive, forward-looking national strategy to keep the U.S. at the forefront of science and technology.

COVID-19大流行正在加剧美国对中国技术实力的担忧。不幸的是,由此引发的许多政策辩论都集中在限制中国能力的方法上,而当我们最需要的是一种系统性方法来增强自身能力时。为了保证我们国家未来的经济健康和国家安全,我们需要一项全面的,具有前瞻性的国家战略,以使美国保持在科学技术的最前沿。

Fortunately, a bipartisan bill has emerged that offers the blueprint the moment demands. Introduced by Sens. Chuck Schumer(D-N.Y.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and MikeGallagher (R-Wis.), the Endless Frontier Act would provide a visible, focused and sustained commitment to U.S. research, education and technology transfer, as well as to economic development — precisely the combination of remedies that will secure the nation’s future.

幸运的是,一个由两党共同提出的法案,为美国的国家战略提供了蓝图,这一名为《无限前沿》的法案由参议员Chuck SchumerDN.Y.)和Todd YoungR-Ind。)以及RepsRo KhannaD-Calif。)和Mike GallagherR-Wis。)提出,将提供可见的,对美国的研究,教育和技术转让以及对经济发展的重点和持续承诺——作为一种宝贵的结合,无限前沿法案既是补救措施,也是对国家未来的保障。

The bill recognizes that since World WarII, federal research funding has been a central contributor to U.S. economic dominance. It’s no accident that sectors like aircraft and information technology that have benefited most from decades of federal research support have been the leading U.S. exporters and emblems of U.S. leadership. The legislation would authorize $100 billion in new funding over five years for research and related activities.

该法案认识到,自第二次世界大战以来,联邦研究经费一直是美国经济主导地位的主要奠定者。受益于数十年联邦研究经费支持的飞机和信息技术等行业一直是美国领先的出口商和美国领导地位的标志,这并非偶然。该立法将授权在五年内为研究和相关活动提供1000亿美元的新资金。

But the bill also reflects the fact that to counter China’s very different model for economic growth, we not only need to invest more in science and technology now, we also need to invest differently than in the past. We simply must move more effectively from scientific success to market impact. With that in mind, the bill would establish a new technology directorate at the National Science Foundation that would fund fundamental research with an eye toward advancing 10 pivotal technologies, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing. To complement this research, the bill also calls for supporting more students pursuing undergraduate and advanced studies in relevant fields and for developing new ways to move ideas more effectively from lab to market, including by creating testbeds for new developments.

但是该法案还反映出一个事实,为了应对中国非常不同的经济增长模式,我们不仅需要在科学和技术上进行更多投资,而且还需要与过去进行不同的投资。我们必须更有效地促进科学意义上的成功,转变对市场的影响。考虑到这一点,该法案将在美国国家科学基金会设立一个新技术理事会,该理事会将资助基础研究,以期推进包括人工智能和量子计算在内的10种关键技术的发展。为了补充这项研究,该法案还呼吁支持更多的学生攻读相关领域的本科和高级研究,并开发新的方式将思想更有效地从实验室转移到市场,包括为新的发展创建测试平台。

The aim of the new directorate is to support fundamental scientific research — with specific goals in mind. This is not about solving incremental technical problems. As one example, in artificial intelligence, the focus would not be on further refining current algorithms, but rather on developing profoundly new approaches that would enable machines to “learn” using much smaller data sets — a fundamental advance that would eliminate the need to access immense data sets, an area where China holds an immense advantage. Success in this work would have a double benefit: seeding economic benefits for the U.S. while reducing the pressure to weaken privacyand civil liberties in pursuit of more “training” data.

新理事会的目的是支持基础科学研究,并牢记具体目标。这与解决增量技术问题无关。例如,在人工智能中,重点不会放在进一步完善当前算法上,而是在开发深刻的新方法,使机器能够使用小得多的数据集“学习”,这是一项根本性的进步,将减少对庞大数据集的需求。这是中国拥有巨大优势的领域。这项工作的成功将带来双重好处:在为美国增加经济利益的同时,减少为了机器学习而削弱公民隐私和自由的压力。

Supporting fundamental research with an eyeto real-world challenges is the kind of thinking that drove the DefenseAdvanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop what became the internet. Such use-inspired basic research, funded by NSF — a trusted and experienced civilian agency that understands research and researchers — is what’s needed to retain U.S. leadership in both science and technology, to keep us prosperous and secure.

考虑到现实世界的挑战来支持基础研究的想法是驱使国防高级研究计划局(DARPA)开发成为互联网的一种思维。由NSF(一家了解研究人员和研究人员的值得信赖和经验丰富的民间机构)资助的以使用为灵感的基础研究,是保持美国在科学和技术领域的领导地位,保持我们的繁荣和安全所需要的。

The bill would also encourage universities to experiment with new ways to help accelerate the process of bringing innovative ideas to the marketplace, either via established companies or start-ups. At MIT we started The Engine, an independent entity that provides private-sector funding, workspace, and technical assistance to start-ups that are developing technologies with enormous potential but that require more-extensive technical development than typical VCs will fund, from fusion energy to a fast, inexpensive test for COVID-19. Other models may suit other institutions — but the nation needs to encourage many more such efforts, across the country, to reap the full benefits of our federal investment in science.

该法案还将鼓励大学尝试新方法,以帮助加速通过成熟的公司或初创公司将创新思想带入市场的过程。在麻省理工学院,我们启动了The Engine,这是一个独立的实体,为正在开发具有巨大潜力但需要比典型VC资助更广泛的技术开发的初创企业提供私营部门资金,工作空间和技术援助,从聚变能源到一种针对COVID-19的快速,廉价的测试。其他模式可能适用于其他机构-但美国需要在全国范围内鼓励更多的此类努力,以从我们的联邦科学投资中获得全部收益

Some may worry that this new approach could impair NSF’s vital mission, but I believe it is a natural complement, in keeping with the agency’s impressive record of adapting to the nation’s needs. The U.S. has the top universities in the world because we have combined the best strategies of the past with the flexibility to respond to new challenges; this legislation is designed to protect and maintain support for curiosity-driven basic research across scientific fields — the mainstay of NSF's work that serves the nation so well — even as it furthers NSF’s mission and gives it additional tools.

有些人可能担心这种新方法会损害NSF的重要使命,但我相信这是自然的补充,与该机构适应国家需求的骄人记录保持一致。美国拥有世界一流的大学,因为我们将过去的最佳策略与应对新挑战的灵活性相结合;这项立法旨在保护和保持对科学领域好奇心驱动的基础研究的支持,这是NSF为国家服务的主要支柱,即使它进一步推动了NSF的使命并为其提供了更多工具。

Nations, like individuals, do not succeed by sitting still and hoping that others will fail. Success comes to those that build on their own strengths, learning from what has worked in the past but not being constrained by it.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the report that launched the postwar U.S. research enterprise, Science: The EndlessFrontier. That enterprise has helped give Americans decades of unparalleled prosperity, a rising quality of life, and military confidence. The EndlessFrontier Act would enable us to capitalize on what has worked and retool it for today's world, with its new challenges and challengers.

今年是发布战后美国研究企业《科学:无限前沿》的75周年纪念日。这项事业帮助了美国人数十年来无与伦比的繁荣,生活质量的提高和军事信心。《无限前沿法》将使我们能够利用其行之有效的方法,并为当今世界带来新的挑战和挑战者,对其进行调整。

Dr. L. Rafael Reif is president of MIT.

L. Rafael Reif博士是麻省理工学院的院长。

美国不应当阻挡中国的科技发展,而应该以“举国之力”支持美国自身的科技发展。《中国制造2025》应该成为美国21世纪的“斯普特尼克”时刻。中美在科技领域展开符合法制和市场经济准则的竞争将会加快科技发展和科技产业化的步伐。不管是中国还是美国,大家都应该欢迎这场竞争。

黄亚生,公众号:亚生看G2黄亚生:《中国制造2025》本应是美国的又一个“斯普特尼克(Sputnik)”时刻

中国的新型科技创新举国体制,要彻底颠覆当前的政府主导创新体制,反对论资排辈,建立基础性研究全球悬赏机制,研究经费全包,研究成果个人所有,一旦有了成绩,天使轮投资人接手,并通过资本市场的有效运作,创新者、政府、创投和产业的有效机制。

深夜科技评论,公众号:天时实验室建立新型科技创新国家战略,为华为解除后顾之忧

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