
- Hard drives — Initial research funded by France and Germany, with refinements funded by US agencies (Department of Energy [DOE], Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [DARPA], Department of Defense [DOD]).
- Silicon-based semiconductors — Initial research initiated as a public-private endeavor, with major expenditures by the US Air Force (USAF), Navy, and DOD to purchase and refine semiconductors and lower their costs, with the DOD starting the Strategic Computing Initiative (SCI) and investing $1 billion in their improvement, ultimately founding a consortium it funded to the tune of $100 million per year over many years.
- Capacitive sensing technologies — British, Swiss, and US funding agencies supported the major research into this technology.
- Multi-touch screens — The National Science Foundation (NSF) and CIA provided initial funding through the University of Delaware. Apple bought the resulting company.
- Internet protocols (HTTP, HTML, TCP/IP) — DARPA, NSF, and CERN all had a funding hand in their development.
- GPS — The DOD and the USAF played major roles in conceptualizing and deploying the satellites and protocols that make GPS possible, and the USAF still supports it to the tune of more than $700 million annually.
- SIRI — DARPA asked the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) to develop a “virtual office assistant,” and SRI created a 20-university consortium funded by DARPA. A voice-recognition system emerged, was spun off as SIRI, and sold to Apple in 2010.
- LCD displays — Developed at Westinghouse but funded almost entirely by the US Army. When management at Westinghouse sought to shut down development, the chief scientist sought support from other technology companies, but was refused. DARPA came to his rescue with a $7.8 million contract, allowing him to spin off the company that ultimately commercialized the displays.
- Lithium-ion batteries — DOE and NSF funding for the basic research and development.
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http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Entrepreneurial_State_-_web.pdf