This report defines the linkages between our nation’s need for greater energy security, the global imperative for environmental sustainability, and U.S. economic competitiveness at the enterprise and national levels.

This executive summary outlines the key findings that emerged at a high level expert convening focused on defining the linkages between our nation’s need for greater energy security, the global imperative for environmental sustainability, and U.S. economic competitiveness at the enterprise and national levels.

Meeting the need for sustainable energy solutions is a national challenge of the highest priority. Progressive Dialogue II experts identified a number of key factors impacting the ability of enterprises to move forward with regard to energy security and sustainability. This report explores, through the lens of enterprise “users,” the private sector’s role in driving energy system transformation and identifies the enabling conditions that government must provide to support this process.

Energy is Everything—it is the lifeblood of our economy. America’s competitiveness cannot be separated from the issues surrounding energy—how efficiently we use it, how many billions of dollars we send abroad for it and how well we steward it domestically. Nothing will impact American competitiveness more than the development of sustainable energy products and services—an industry with the potential to create millions of new American jobs in the 21st century.

Since 1986, Motorola has been using high performance computing to model cellular networks and telephones, an approach that has given them a clear competitive advantage and made the company a leader in wireless communications. The firm accesses the supercomputers at the NSF-funded University of Illinois National Center for Supercomputing Applications to create highly complex models of their wireless devices and infrastructure as different communications technologies emerge. They are now creating models that reflect the newest generation of cellular systems. Their work continues to help Motorola retain its leadership position in the global wireless marketplace.