Industrial research institute's R&D trends forecast for 2005

A report on Industrial Research Institute's R&D trends forecast for 2005, is presented. The 2005 forecast is based on 112 questionnaires collected from 207 member companies. The sea change index is calculated by taking the difference between the number of companies predicting a 5 percent or greater increase and the number of companies predicting no change to a decrease in 2006. The index suggests that more companies continue to reduce 'total company R & D expenditures' and 'capital spending for R & D operations' with a continued focus on increasing 'new-business projects'.