News

September 8, 2016

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Council on Competitiveness announced the addition of Mr. William F. Wescott Ph.D. as a Senior Fellow. Dr. Wescott has over three decades of experience in innovation and sustainable development, working with leading organizations on six continents and in four languages. In addition to being the founder and CEO of the BrainOxygen, LLC consultancy, he has served as a leader of three Bay Area startups, co-founded and managed the Veolia Innovation Accelerator as Veolia’s Vice President of Innovation, and founded the Latin American EHS consulting practice of Arthur D. Little, Inc. during his 15 years there. Dr. Wescott is a lifelong intra- and entrepreneur, and is a frequent speaker on technology and innovation.

September 1, 2016

WASHINGTON—U.S. Council on Competitiveness president and CEO, Deborah L. Wince-Smith comments on the latest numbers from the Institute of Supply Management, indicating economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in August. Earlier this year the Council and Deloitte released the 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, which predicts the U.S. will overtake China in manufacturing competitiveness by 2020:

What do the latest numbers tell you about the state of U.S. manufacturing?

“Contrary to what you hear on the campaign trail, U.S. manufacturing is making a comeback. Before this month’s contraction, we had five consecutive months of growth, which showed the U.S. has momentum in the global manufacturing race. The whole manufacturing sector has been retooling itself, heavily investing in research and development, and it’s paying off.”

August 26, 2016

This article originally appeared on the Department of Energy's website here.

Women’s Equality Day (Aug. 26) is an annual celebration of the certification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. The Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) recently sat down with one of its collaborating partners, the Honorable Deborah L. Wince-Smith, President and CEO of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, to discuss her views on women’s equality in the manufacturing sector.

Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO): Was there a time in your career when you felt like a minority due to being a woman?

Deborah Wince-Smith (DWS):  I started out in a temporary job at the National Science Foundation working on scientific exchange programs between the United States and the former Eastern Bloc countries. I was one of the few women in that area at the time.  When I used to travel overseas, virtually everybody I worked with in the counterpart organizations were men. I learned early on just to do my job and not think about it, but certainly in those days there weren’t many women in these government positions as well as in science and technology policy management.