News

July 28, 2016

WASHINGTON – Members of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness went to Capitol Hill to brief congressional staffers a day after holding its first comprehensive dialogue on the research-intensive U.S. biosciences industry. The tremendous potential of U.S, leadership in biosciences across multiple sectors of the economy is facing increased competition globally. Before a large audience in the Rayburn House Office Building, Bill Bates, the Council’s Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff opened the session and framed the issues.

“Biosciences span the spectrum of the U.S. economy from medicine to food to manufacturing,“ said Bates. “The U.S. can lead and reap the benefits of job creation, new businesses, new products, cleaner air and healthier citizens or we can cede leadership to other countries willing to make the investments in research and talent. For policymakers this really should be no choice at all.”

July 27, 2016

Members and partners of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness’ Energy Manufacturing Competitiveness Partnership (EMCP) met for a dialogue on the economic potential of biosciences and the national ecosystem necessary to capitalize on this exciting sector.

Biosciences, meaning technologies and applications emerging from biology, are driving U.S. innovation in sustainable energy, medical advancements, chemical engineering, agriculture and food production. The meeting preceded a briefing on Capitol Hill the next day, in which representatives from Council partners Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory spoke to lawmakers on the applications for bioscience technologies.

"How to Win the Global Manufacturing Race" features top-five ways for MN to stay competitive

July 23, 2016

The 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, a joint study by the U.S. Council on Competitiveness and Deloitte, predicts that by 2020 our nation will overtake China as the top manufacturing nation in the world.  This is all predicated on investing in key areas highlighted in a column co-authored by Council president and CEO Deborah L. Wince Smith and Deloitte's vice chairman and U.S. Consumer Products Lead.  Published in Minnesota's largest newspaper, the StarTribune, the article can be applied by other states as a road map on how to win the global manufacturing race. Read the article below.

July 19, 2016

U.S. Council on Competitiveness Senior Fellow Alex Larzelere published an op-ed for InsideHPC, in which he raises concern the U.S. is falling too far behind China in the supercomputer race. China surpassed the U.S. in total number of computers in the Top500, which ranks the world's high performance computers by computing power.

"Having worked in our national labs for 25 years as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s high performance computing initiatives, I can only imagine our scientists’ dejection on learning that the Chinese are kicking the “FLOP” out of us.