FOREWORD
On January 4, 2011, President Barack Obama signed into law the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (COMPETES). Section 604 of COMPETES mandates that the Secretary of Commerce complete a study that addresses the economic competitiveness and innovative capacity of the United States (see Supplemental Materials). Congress directed that this report address a diverse array of topics and policy options, including: tax policy; the general business climate in the U.S.; regional issues such as the role of state and local governments in higher education; barriers to setting up new firms; trade policy, including export promotion;the effectiveness of Federal research and development policy; intellectual property regimes in the U.S. and abroad; the health of the manufacturing sector; and science and technology education.
In conducting this study, COMPETES specified that the Secretary of Commerce establish a process for obtaining comments. One part of that process was to establish a 15 member Innovation Advisory Board (IAB) “for purposes of obtaining advice with respect to the conduct of the study.” The Department of Commerce announced the members of the IAB (listed in the Supplementary Materials section of this report) on May 4, 2011, and the inaugural meeting of the IAB was on June 6, 2011, in Alexandria, Virginia. A second meeting of the IAB was held September 23, 2011, in Boulder, Colorado. IAB members provided input into the process throughout the summer. Additionally, some IAB members generously hosted COMPETES-related events in Washington, D.C.; Youngstown, Ohio; Morgantown, West Virginia; Philadelphia, PA; and New York, NY. These events brought together community and business leaders, and experts in a wide variety of areas, to share their ideas on competitiveness. Department of Commerce and Administration staff attended all of these meetings.
Additionally, we received input from a number of other groups at various events. These included an all day event with a group of prominent academic economists in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a conference at the Silicon Flatirons’ Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado. Other groups, as well as the general public, provided additional input.
We are very grateful for the generosity of all contributors, but special thanks go to the Innovation Advisory Board members—they passionately care about the future of this country and have been willing to give their valuable time and expertise to enrich this process.
Sincerely,
John E. Bryson
Secretary of Commerce