The commercial knowledge and technology-intensive (KTI) industries play a big role in the U.S. economy. The larger component of KTI industries—the knowledge-intensive (KI) services industries—employed 18 million workers and produced 22% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012. The smaller component—the high technology (HT) manufacturing industries—employed 2 million workers and produced 2% of GDP in 2012. Although smaller than KI services industries, HT manufacturing industries have a greater concentration of workers in S&E occupations and perform a larger proportion of U.S. research and development. Both KI services industries and HT manufacturing industries pay substantially higher wages than the private-sector average.
Three KI services industries (business, finance, and information) and six HT manufacturing industries (aircraft; communications; computers and office machinery; pharmaceuticals; semiconductors; and testing, measuring, and control instruments) classified by the Organisation for Economic and Cooperation and Development are discussed in this report.[2] (Note: Because various data sources used in this report classify industries differently, different numbers may be reported for KI and HT industries.)
KTI Industries in the U.S. Economy
In 2012, KTI industries produced $3.8 trillion in value-added output, nearly one-fourth of the U.S. GDP (figure 1, table 1). The three KI services industries contributed the largest part by far, producing 22% of the GDP. KTI industries perform three-fourths of U.S. business R&D, an important source of innovation and economic growth.[3] The six HT manufacturing industries alone performed nearly one-half of U.S. business R&D.
FIGURE 1. Share of U.S. GDP, employment, and business R&D performance, by selected industry: 2009 and 2012
GDP = gross domestic product; HT = high technology; KI = knowledge intensive.
NOTES: Employment consists of the nonagricultural workforce. Business R&D performance consists of domestic funding by companies' own internal funds and funds from other sources. HT manufacturing and commercial KI services industries are classified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. HT manufacturing industries include computers and office machinery; communications; semiconductors; testing, measuring, and control instruments; aircraft; and pharmaceuticals. Commercial KI services industries include business, information, and financial services. Business R&D performance of commercial KI services industries consists of professional and technical services and information.
TABLE 1. Value-added output of selected U.S. industries and sectors: Selected years, 2000–12
(Billions of current U.S. dollars)
Industry or sector
2000
2003
2005
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
All sectors and industries
9,952
11,142
12,623
14,029
14,292
13,974
14,499
15,076
15,685
All private services
6,475
7,374
8,330
9,269
9,458
9,345
9,684
10,059
10,474
Commercial KI services
2,013
2,346
2,695
2,998
3,042
2,992
3,116
3,241
3,421
Business
834
937
1,089
1,282
1,363
1,294
1,347
1,435
1,488
Professional, scientific, and technical services
662
745
870
1,025
1,100
1,046
1,084
1,152
1,192
Management of companies and enterprises
171
192
218
258
263
248
263
284
296
Finance
762
902
1,019
1,080
1,042
1,094
1,157
1,159
1,242
Information
418
507
587
636
637
605
612
647
691
Other services
4,462
5,028
5,635
6,271
6,417
6,353
6,568
6,818
7,053
Education
86
106
120
138
148
163
166
174
180
Health care and social assistance
592
741
833
939
1,006
1,062
1,103
1,137
1,165
All others
3,784
4,181
4,682
5,195
5,263
5,127
5,299
5,507
5,709
Manufacturing
1,416
1,374
1,569
1,698
1,629
1,540
1,631
1,732
1,867
HT manufacturing
300
272
301
330
320
332
333
328
342
Aircraft
49
48
57
70
68
70
68
72
79
Communications
49
28
29
30
27
23
25
21
21
Computers and office machinery
40
28
30
30
31
28
20
20
18
Pharmaceuticals
34
52
50
52
44
56
50
47
47
Semiconductors
63
46
52
51
51
46
58
59
53
Testing, measuring, and control instruments
66
71
84
97
100
109
112
109
123
Other manufacturing
1,116
1,102
1,268
1,368
1,309
1,208
1,297
1,404
1,525
Other industries
846
958
1,138
1,302
1,350
1,172
1,217
1,291
1,318
Government
1,215
1,435
1,586
1,760
1,854
1,917
1,967
1,994
2,026
HT = high technology; KI = knowledge intensive.
NOTES: Reporting categories follow the data source. Value-added output is the amount contributed by the industry to the value of a good or service. HT manufacturing and KI services industries are classified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Data for HT manufacturing industries are from IHS Global Insight; data for all other industries are from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
KTI industries are major exporters. In 2011, commercial KI services exported nearly one-half of the $587 billion total in U.S. cross-border exports for all services, and in 2012, HT manufacturing industries exported nearly one-fourth of the $1,422 billion total in exports of nonpetroleum goods.[4]
KTI industries tend to be leaders in productivity growth. This is important because productivity—the ratio of production outputs to resource inputs—is a key source of economic growth and an indicator of development.[5] In most of the KI services industries for which data are available, labor productivity has grown considerably faster than in nonfarm business. Similarly, in several HT manufacturing industries, labor productivity has grown considerably faster than productivity in the manufacturing sector (figure 2).[6]
FIGURE 2. Labor productivity growth of selected U.S. HT manufacturing and KI services industries: 2000–11
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Productivity and Costs, September 2012, http://www.bls.gov/lpc/.
Employment in KTI industries represented 15% of the U.S. workforce in 2012 (figure 1). KI services employ far more workers (18.4 million) than are employed in the HT manufacturing industries (1.8 million) (table 2). Employment in each of the three KI services industries is much bigger than in HT manufacturing industries as a whole. Business services has the largest workforce (9.9 million), with nearly one-half employed in four advanced-technology industries: architectural and engineering, computer systems design, management and technical consulting, and scientific R&D. Financial services has the next-largest workforce (5.8 million), with over 80% employed in the credit intermediation and insurance industries. Information services has the smallest labor force (2.7 million), with 0.9 million collectively employed in four advanced technology industries: data processing, hosting, and related services; radio and television broadcasting; software publishers; and wireless telecommunications carriers. In contrast, the largest HT manufacturing industry employer in 2012 was aircraft (0.5 million), followed by the semiconductors and the testing, measuring, and control instruments industries, which employ about 0.4 million each.
TABLE 2. Employment of selected U.S. industries and sectors: Selected years, 2000–12
(Thousands of persons)
Industry or sector
2000
2003
2005
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Total (nonfarm) businesses
131,881
130,100
133,747
137,645
136,852
130,876
129,917
131,497
133,739
All private industries
111,091
108,517
111,943
115,427
114,343
108,321
107,427
109,411
111,822
All private services
86,442
86,701
89,753
93,194
93,008
89,764
89,676
91,363
93,411
Commercial KI services
17,901
17,498
17,907
18,737
18,764
18,023
17,782
18,042
18,413
Business
8,498
8,290
8,784
9,526
9,704
9,376
9,314
9,600
9,901
Professional, scientific, and technical services
6,702
6,603
7,025
7,659
7,800
7,509
7,441
7,666
7,892
Accounting and bookkeeping
866
815
849
936
951
914
887
899
913
Advertising and related services
497
430
446
471
462
422
408
422
430
Architectural and engineering services
1,238
1,227
1,311
1,432
1,439
1,325
1,275
1,294
1,323
Computer systems design services
1,254
1,117
1,195
1,372
1,440
1,423
1,449
1,536
1,620
Legal services
1,066
1,142
1,168
1,175
1,162
1,125
1,114
1,116
1,122
Management and technical consulting services
673
718
824
953
1,002
995
999
1,065
1,121
Other professional and business services
462
494
524
574
584
566
576
592
609
Scientific R&D services
515
539
577
602
620
616
621
628
638
Specialized design services
132
121
131
143
141
124
113
114
116
Management of companies and enterprises
1,796
1,687
1,759
1,866
1,905
1,867
1,872
1,934
2,008
Finance
5,773
6,021
6,063
6,179
6,077
5,844
5,761
5,769
5,835
Credit intermediation
2,548
2,792
2,869
2,866
2,733
2,590
2,550
2,554
2,579
Securities, commodity contracts, investments
805
758
786
849
864
811
801
811
814
Insurance carriers
2,317
2,367
2,303
2,354
2,367
2,333
2,304
2,300
2,337
All others
104
103
105
110
113
109
107
104
104
Information
3,631
3,188
3,061
3,032
2,984
2,804
2,707
2,673
2,678
Data processing, hosting, and related services
316
280
263
268
260
249
243
246
250
Motion picture and sound recording
383
376
378
381
371
358
370
362
372
Publishing (except Internet)
1,035
925
904
901
880
796
759
749
738
Software publishers
261
239
238
255
264
258
261
271
286
Radio and television broadcasting
253
238
239
237
233
215
210
210
211
Cable and other subscription programming
91
86
89
89
86
85
80
74
74
Wired telecommunications carriers
922
762
690
665
666
635
603
585
581
Wireless telecommunications carriers
186
190
191
203
201
187
170
166
159
All others
446
331
308
289
286
279
272
283
292
Other services
68,541
69,203
71,846
74,458
74,244
71,741
71,894
73,321
74,998
Education
2,390
2,695
2,836
2,941
3,040
3,090
3,155
3,250
3,347
Health
10,858
11,817
12,314
12,947
13,290
13,543
13,777
14,026
14,302
All others
55,293
54,691
56,696
58,569
57,914
55,108
54,962
56,045
57,349
Manufacturing
17,263
14,509
14,227
13,879
13,406
11,847
11,528
11,726
11,919
HT manufacturing
2,496
2,004
1,983
1,989
1,981
1,863
1,805
1,817
1,821
Aircraft
517
442
455
489
507
492
478
487
497
Communications
239
149
141
128
127
121
117
115
110
Computers and office machinery
302
224
205
186
183
166
158
157
159
Pharmaceuticals
274
292
288
295
291
284
277
270
271
Semiconductors
676
461
452
448
432
378
369
383
384
Testing, measuring, and control instruments
488
435
441
443
441
422
406
404
400
Other manufacturing
14,767
12,505
12,244
11,890
11,425
9,984
9,723
9,910
10,098
Other industries
7,386
7,307
7,963
8,354
7,929
6,710
6,223
6,322
6,492
Government
20,790
21,583
21,804
22,218
22,509
22,555
22,490
22,086
21,917
HT = high technology; KI = knowledge intensive.
NOTES: Reporting categories follow the data source. HT manufacturing and commercial KI services industries are classified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/ces/, accessed 15 July 2013.
KTI industries have a highly skilled workforce as measured by S&E workforce intensity—defined as the percentage of the workforce in S&E occupations. The S&E workforce intensities of HT manufacturing industries (26%) and commercial KI services industries (16%) are significantly higher than the average S&E workforce intensity of private industries (4%) (table 3).
TABLE 3. Average salaries and S&E workforce intensity, by selected industry and broad occupation category: 2004 and 2012
(Dollars)
All occupations
S&E occupations
Non-S&E occupations
S&E workforce intensity (%)a
Industry
2004
2012
2004
2012
2004
2012
2004
2012
All private industries
37,000
45,000
68,000
83,000
35,000
43,000
3.9
4.4
Commercial KI services
53,000
68,000
70,000
86,000
50,000
65,000
12.8
15.8
Business
57,000
73,000
71,000
87,000
54,000
69,000
18.7
21.4
Finance
48,000
62,000
66,000
83,000
47,000
60,000
4.7
5.4
Information
49,000
64,000
70,000
84,000
46,000
60,000
11.8
16.6
HT manufacturing
56,000
70,000
79,000
95,000
48,000
61,000
25.8
26.4
Aircraft
56,000
71,000
77,000
96,000
49,000
62,000
25.8
24.4
Communications
55,000
75,000
77,000
98,000
48,000
64,000
25.2
30.9
Computers and office machinery
69,000
90,000
87,000
98,000
57,000
83,000
38.5
43.1
Pharmaceuticals
54,000
64,000
72,000
84,000
49,000
59,000
20.0
20.4
Semiconductors
51,000
64,000
80,000
97,000
43,000
55,000
22.1
23.4
Testing, measuring, and control instruments
56,000
71,000
79,000
94,000
48,000
62,000
27.6
28.0
All other industries
37,000
41,000
63,000
78,000
33,000
40,000
1.9
2.5
HT = high technology; KI = knowledge intensive; S&E = science and engineering.
a Percentage of workforce in S&E occupations.
NOTES: HT manufacturing and commercial KI services industries are classified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. S&E occupations include biological, agricultural, and environmental scientists; computer scientists; life scientists; mathematicians; physical scientists; social scientists; engineers; and S&E postsecondary teachers. Salary estimates are in current dollars and are rounded to the nearest thousand.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Survey, special tabulations, July 2013.
S&E workforce intensity varies widely among individual KI services and HT manufacturing industries. Business services has the highest S&E workforce intensity among the KI services industries, with about one in five employees working in an S&E occupation in 2012 (table 3). Within business services, S&E workforce intensity is highest in computer systems design (53%), scientific R&D (44%), and architectural and engineering (33%) (table 4). Information services has the next highest S&E intensity (17%). Software publishers (46%) and data processing, hosting, and related services (38%) have the highest S&E intensities within this industry sector.
TABLE 4. Average salaries and S&E workforce intensity for selected U.S. commercial KI services industries, by broad occupation: 2004 and 2012
(Dollars)
All occupations
S&E occupations
Non-S&E occupations
S&E workforce intensitya
Service industry
2004
2012
2004
2012
2004
2012
2004
2012
Business services
57,000
73,000
71,000
87,000
54,000
69,000
18.7
21.4
Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services
49,000
60,000
66,000
71,000
48,000
60,000
3.8
2.7
Advertising, public relations, and related services
51,000
65,000
61,000
74,000
50,000
64,000
3.5
3.6
Architectural, engineering, and related services
56,000
73,000
71,000
88,000
50,000
65,000
29.5
33.3
Computer systems design and related services
70,000
85,000
72,000
86,000
68,000
83,000
48.3
52.5
Legal services
61,000
77,000
58,000
70,000
61,000
77,000
1.2
1.4
Management of companies and enterprises
55,000
73,000
69,000
83,000
53,000
72,000
11.7
12.9
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services
59,000
74,000
69,000
86,000
57,000
72,000
18.4
17.9
Other professional, scientific, and technical services
34,000
46,000
48,000
69,000
33,000
45,000
5.9
4.2
Scientific R&D services
67,000
85,000
77,000
93,000
60,000
78,000
40.0
44.1
Specialized design services
48,000
59,000
61,000
74,000
48,000
58,000
3.6
4.7
Financial services
48,000
62,000
66,000
83,000
47,000
60,000
4.8
5.4
Activities related to credit intermediation
44,000
52,000
61,000
85,000
43,000
50,000
3.4
6.0
Agencies, brokerages, and other insurance-related activities
46,000
56,000
60,000
73,000
45,000
55,000
2.3
2.7
Depository credit intermediation
38,000
50,000
60,000
78,000
37,000
49,000
3.2
3.4
Insurance and employee benefit funds
50,000
69,000
69,000
89,000
na
68,000
na
7.8
Insurance carriers
49,000
64,000
64,000
80,000
48,000
62,000
7.7
9.5
Monetary authorities—central bank
50,000
81,000
70,000
90,000
46,000
79,000
14.7
21.5
Nondepository credit intermediation
48,000
58,000
67,000
86,000
47,000
56,000
4.6
5.2
Other financial investment activities
71,000
95,000
75,000
93,000
71,000
95,000
7.1
5.3
Other investment pools and funds
58,000
79,000
na
91,000
na
77,000
na
8.9
Securities and commodity contracts intermediation and brokerage
74,000
95,000
77,000
99,000
73,000
94,000
6.9
6.8
Securities and commodity exchanges
76,000
99,000
74,000
na
77,000
na
16.2
na
Information services
49,000
64,000
70,000
84,000
46,000
60,000
11.8
16.6
Cable and other program distribution
41,000
na
57,000
na
40,000
na
6.5
na
Cable and other subscription programming
46,000
56,000
58,000
77,000
45,000
55,000
7.8
4.7
Data processing, hosting, and related services
53,000
68,000
na
79,000
75,000
61,000
29.0
38.0
Internet publishing and broadcasting
63,000
na
67,000
na
61,000
na
29.2
na
Internet service providers and Web search portals
61,000
na
65,000
na
59,000
na
36.9
na
Motion picture and video industries
40,000
61,000
69,000
86,000
39,000
61,000
1.7
2.3
Newspaper, periodical, book, and directory publishers
KI = knowledge intensive; S&E = science and engineering.
a Percentage of workforce in S&E occupations.
NOTES: Reporting categories follow the data source. Commercial KI services industries are classified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and include health, education, business, information, and financial services. S&E occupations include biological, agricultural, and environmental scientists; computer scientists; life scientists; mathematicians; physical scientists; social scientists; engineers; and S&E postsecondary teachers. Salary estimates are in current dollars and are rounded to the nearest thousand.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, special tabulations, July 2013, of the Occupational Employment Survey.
Computers and office machinery manufacturing has the highest S&E workforce intensity among the HT manufacturing industries (43%) (table 3), followed by communications (31%). Pharmaceuticals ranks the lowest at 20%.
Wages
U.S. commercial KTI industries pay much higher wages than other industries (figure 3, table 3). The average salaries of KI services industries and HT manufacturing industries in 2011 were similar and were more than $20,000 higher than the private-sector average. However, average salaries vary widely among individual HT manufacturing and commercial KI services industries (tables 3, 4).
FIGURE 3. Average annual salaries for selected U.S. industries and broad occupations: 2012
HT = high technology; KI = knowledge intensive; S&E = science and engineering.
NOTES: As classified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, HT manufacturing industries include computers and office machinery; communications; semiconductors; testing, measuring, and control instruments; aircraft; and pharmaceuticals. Commercial KI services industries include business, information, and financial services. S&E occupations include biological, agricultural, and environmental scientists; computer scientists; life scientists; mathematicians; physical scientists; social scientists; engineers; and S&E postsecondary teachers. Salary estimates are in current dollars and are rounded to the nearest thousand.
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Survey, special tabulations, July 2013.
The wage premium in commercial KTI industries is due, in part, to the high concentration of workers in S&E occupations. In the private sector, S&E workers earn an average of $83,000, close to double the salary of non-S&E workers (figure 3, table 3). However, this is not the whole story. Non-S&E workers in commercial KTI industries earn at least $18,000 more than those in other industries.
Business services pays the highest average salary ($73,000) among commercial KI services industries (table 4). Within this category, average salaries are highest in computer systems design and related services and in scientific R&D ($85,000). The average salary in information services is $64,000, with the software publishers industry commanding the highest salary ($91,000) in this category. Among the HT manufacturing industries, computers and office machinery pay by far the highest salary ($90,000) (table 3).
Employment and Output Trends
KTI industries tended to have faster growth in output per unit of labor (labor productivity) than other industries between 2000 and 2011. In general, higher labor productivity growth is consistent with more modest or negative job growth. KTI industries exhibited more modest or negative job growth compared with other industries between 2000 and 2012. The value-added output of commercial KI services industries grew 70% in this period and employment expanded by 3% (500,000 jobs) (table 1, 2). Employment in business services grew 17% (1.4 million jobs), coinciding with the move by U.S. companies to reduce costs and leverage the expertise of specialized companies by contracting out many of their services. Employment in information services contracted by 26% (-950,000 jobs), coinciding with rapid technological progress and increased international competition that affected both traditional industries (e.g., publishing) and HT industries (e.g., broadband and cellular phone service).
In the HT manufacturing industries, the three ICT industries—communications, semiconductors, and computers and office machinery—had collective steep declines in output and employment with a loss of 600,000 jobs (table 1, 2). The sharp fall in employment and output in the ICT manufacturing industries coincided with U.S.-based multinational corporations moving their production facilities to China and other countries. In the three other HT manufacturing industries—aircraft, pharmaceuticals, and testing, measuring, and control instruments—combined value-added output grew 67%. Employment trends varied, with stable employment in aircraft and pharmaceuticals and a loss of 90,000 jobs in testing, measuring, and control instruments.
Data Sources and Availability
Data presented here are from the Bureau of Economic Analysis's (BEA's) GDP by Industry Data and from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS's) Current Employment Statistics (CES) and Occupational Employment Survey (OES). Data from BEA and CES are publicly available at http://www.bea.gov/industry/gdpbyind_data.htm and http://www.bls.gov/ces/, respectively. Data from the OES are special tabulations provided to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics by BLS, and publicly available data from the May 2004 survey can be found at http://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. Data on U.S. business R&D are from Business Research and Development and Innovation: 2008–10 (available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf13332/).
Average salaries are rounded to the nearest $1,000. Average salaries for all occupations for individual industries are from OES special tabulations and the May 2004 survey. To calculate average salaries for categories of industries, such as commercial KI services industries, total wages were divided by employment. Salaries of S&E occupations for individual industries are from OES special tabulations. Salaries of S&E occupations for industry categories were calculated by total wages divided by employment. Average salaries or employment for a few individual industries in these categories were not available and were excluded from the calculations of average salaries of these industry categories.
Definitions
High-technology (HT) manufacturing industries: Manufacturing industries identified by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that spend a large proportion of their revenues on R&D and make products that contain or embody technologies developed from R&D. These are aircraft; communications (including semiconductors); computers and office machinery; pharmaceuticals; and testing, measuring, and control instruments. This report separately examines communications and semiconductors.
Knowledge-intensive (KI) services industries: Service industries identified by OECD that incorporate advanced technology, either in their services or in the delivery of their services. Three of these—business, finance, and information services (including computer software and R&D)—are generally commercially traded. The others—education and health services—are publicly regulated or provided and remain relatively more location bound. Each KI services industry is a collection of specific industries. Examples of business service industries are accounting, architecture and engineering, scientific R&D, computer systems design, and legal services.
S&E occupations: Occupations include biological, agricultural, and environmental scientists; computer scientists; life scientists; mathematicians; physical scientists; social scientists; engineers; and S&E postsecondary teachers.
Value added: The amount contributed by the industry to the value of a good or service. It excludes purchases of domestic and imported supplies and inputs from other industries or countries. Value-added output is expressed in current dollars unless otherwise noted.
Notes
[1] Derek Hill, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965, Arlington, VA 22230 (dhill@nsf.gov; 703-292-7805).
[2] National Science Board (NSB). 2014. Science and Engineering Indicators 2014. NSB 14-01. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. Available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind14/.
[3] National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NSF/NCSES). 2013. Business Research and Development and Innovation: 2008–10. Detailed Statistical Tables NSF 13-332. Arlington, VA. Available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf13332/.
[4] Data on cross-border exports of U.S. service industries are from Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. international services statistics, http://www.bea.gov/international/international_services.htm. In these data, U.S. cross-border exports of commercial KI services industries are the sum of the finance; insurance; telecommunications; and business, professional, and technical services categories. Data on U.S. exports of nonpetroleum exports are from the Census Bureau, Foreign Trade, U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services—Annual Revision for 2012, http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/2012pr/final_revisions/#notice_goods. Data on U.S. HT exports are from IHS Global Insight World Trade Service, http://www.ihs.com/products/global-insight/industry-analysis/commerce-transport/world-trade.aspx. The value of exports (and imports) is measured on a gross basis, which is not compatible with the value-added measure of industry output. Trade data are based on a classification of goods or services themselves, not the industry that produces them.
[5] Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 2001. Measuring Productivity: Measurement of Aggregate and Industry-Level Productivity. OECD Manual. Paris: OECD Publications. Available at http://www.oecd.org/std/productivity-stats/.
National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics U.S. Knowledge-Intensive Services Industries Employ 18 Million and Pay High Wages
Arlington, VA (NSF 15-300) [October 2014]