On translating technology research into industrial applications
Stephen T.C. Wong · SpringerPlus · 2014
Basic or pure research advances fundamental knowledge about the world and generates new ideas, principles, and theories, which, while not always immediately usable, form the basis of progress and development in different fields and industries, even starting new ones. For example, computers could not exist without research in mathematical logics and solid state physics over a century ago, while the prevalent world wide web and social media owe much to the fundamental breakthroughs in semiconductors and network theory, for which there was no known practical application at the time. Basic research is more speculative and takes a long time, often decades, to be applied in the real world, and occasionally results in unexpected discoveries.