ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a few examples of research and development efforts involving semiconductors that are coordinated at the national level with government support. The launching of Japan's Fifth Generation Computer Project in 1981 precipitated a swell of reaction in the microelectronics and computer industries in Europe and the United States. Government policies toward microelectronics in the United States, Japan, and Europe have recognizable roots in national policies. Policies in Europe have been much less consistent than policies in the United States and Japan. Many Americans tend to date the rise of the Japanese microelectronics industry as from the middle 1970s and focus on the very large scale integration program as the beginnings of active governmental policies in support of the industry. The Alvey Program is developing an elaborate communication infrastructure with electronic messaging to facilitate exchanges among the 106 companies, universities, and research establishments participating, although the intent is to restrict the flow outside the United Kingdom.
