Metrics and standards are central to U.S. competitiveness, committee told

Chairman Budd opened a Senate Commerce hearing warning that the United States faces "fierce" competition and must rethink how it measures scientific success to sustain innovation. He urged the committee to focus on outcome-based metrics, standards leadership, and streamlined agencies under its jurisdiction to keep America competitive.

Walter Copan, a former NIST director and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told senators the federal research enterprise should emphasize metrics that capture impact and adoption. "We need to better prioritize outcome based metrics as a gauge of impact and competitiveness," Copan said. He recommended evaluating public‑private partnerships and improving tech transfer to move inventions to market faster.

Robert Atkinson of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation argued the U.S. should shift some funding toward applied research, citing industry co‑funding as a useful metric. "We need to abandon the dominant paradigm of investigator‑led basic research," Atkinson said, and target funding to national economic power industries. He cited the Chips and Science Act as an example of targeting critical technologies.

The witnesses and senators agreed the committee can help by clarifying performance measurements and improving agency structure. The hearing produced no votes; senators will submit questions for the record and the witnesses were given deadlines to respond.