Looking back, we will find that during the long Cold War, the scientific and technological race between the United States and the Soviet Union never stopped. In 1976, an American think tank evaluated the Soviet Union's semiconductor capabilities and concluded that, despite its performance in some areas, the overall level lagged far behind that of the United States. There are deep historical reasons for the formation of this gap. The birthplace of the semiconductor industry is in the United States, and it has initially developed rapidly in the 50s of the 20th century. And the USSR at that time did not conduct research and development in this field of technology and could not be compared with the United States.
Even if there have been subsequent attempts, no substantial progress has been made. Due to the lack of original capabilities and core technical support, the Soviet Union could only obtain various semiconductor equipment, instruments and materials and other products through informal channels, barely maintaining a semiconductor production capacity that was significantly behind that of the United States, and could only meet the needs of the military industry.
The result?
The answer is well known: the United States has industrialized semiconductor technology, set off a series of technological innovations such as personal computers and the Internet, and greatly improved the level of human productivityThe Soviet Union, on the other hand, was gradually left behind in the field of technology.
This once again proves that in the long-term cold war of technological decoupling, the final victory or defeat depends on the original ability of each party. It is difficult for a country to achieve sustainable development if it lacks core competencies or relies on external inputs.
Why is there such a huge gap?In addition to historical reasons, I think"Civil-military integration"Pattern may be a key factor. In short, through the support of the capital market, the transformation of technological innovation supported by military spending and state funds into civilian products, the cultivation of the industrial chain through the huge sales of civilian products, and the reduction of unit fixed costs to reduce military expenditures, this model has obvious advantages.
Imagine that if a private company decides to invest a large amount of money in research and development in an important field (e.g., aviation, marine information), it may face problems such as high economic risks and long research cycles. However, if the company can get some subsidies through ** procurement and apply the technology to common consumer goods such as mobile phones, it can effectively avoid these problems and achieve resource sharing to promote the healthy functioning of the entire industry ecosystem.
At the same time, the "civil-military integration" model can help promote the development of related industries. In the early days, computers were only used in professional fields such as scientific research and data processing;However, with the gradual popularity of personal computers, the "computer revolution" really began and gave impetus to the development of other related industries, such as software engineering. In addition, "civil-military integration" also brings economic benefits, and most of the "general-purpose" electronic devices are derived from advanced manufacturing processes and design ideas, which have a wide range of application value around the world, and have become one of the important "exports" of enterprises** (please note: although China is currently actively promoting the "dual-track" reform to strengthen domestic demand, the scope of its impact is not yet clear).
To sum up, the "Silicon Valley Spirit of the 1950s-1960s" advocated "basic research + business activities = conventional products and services" and "small companies and large companies to provide complete solutions" have successfully developed a set of characteristics needed to adapt to a rapidly changing market environment - flexibility and agility. Of course, the success of "civil-military integration" is inseparable from the support of incentives at the policy level and the accumulation of social and cultural backgrounds, but the impact accumulated through this model on the way the market operates itself is very important.
It encourages companies to focus on basic research and make the market more flexible and adaptable to changing environments. This approach also makes it easier for enterprises to find customers to pay for when developing new products, better promotes the adjustment of the global IT industry chain structure, and realizes the simplified management of complex and standardized processes.