Committee Examines the Impact of Regional Innovation Centers in the U.S. on the Economy
(McKinney, Texas) – Today, the House Committee on Science and Technology held a field hearing to examine the significance of regional innovation centers on the U.S. economy and global competitiveness. Regional innovation centers cultivate a steady flow of new ideas by partnering universities and specialized research centers nationwide. Specifically, the hearing focused on the roles of the federal, state, and local governments in supporting these centers.
“We live in an increasingly competitive world, where manufacturing jobs are rapidly being outsourced and we are importing more high-tech products than we are exporting. Our country increasingly needs to compete with better skills and higher productivity,” stated Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN). “To maintain our nation’s high standard of living, we will need to sustain our world-class science and technology enterprise that creates innovative new products and high-paying jobs.”
In an effort to increase our competitiveness and in response to the 2005 National Academies’ report Rising Above the Gathering Storm, the Committee created comprehensive legislation aimed at strengthening the nation’s technology and innovation maintaining the U.S.’s competitiveness in the 21st century global marketplace, the American COMPETES Act (Public Law 110-69). In 2007, the COMPETES Act was signed into law.
“Regional innovation clusters are also a key component of our national competitiveness. Through collaborations and partnerships between industry, regional and local government, community colleges and universities, this region and others have been able to make the most of their resources and build a vibrant local culture of innovation that creates good jobs and boosts economic development,” said Gordon.
Creation and adoption of new technologies is estimated to be responsible for as much as half of the U.S. economic growth since World War II.
For more information, visit the Committee’s website.
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