Next president needs national 'innovation strategy,' author says

BOSTON--The United States needs to take a cue from Finland and Singapore to revive a flagging innovation economy, says author John Kao.

Kao spoke here at the MIT Enterprise Forum conference titled "Power, Drugs, and Money" on Thursday. Kao used his speech to make the case that the U.S. has a problem when it comes to generating technical innovation. This is the same theme he asserts in his book Innovation Nation, which was published in October. Though it's an admittedly over-used term, innovation is what leads to new technologies that drive economic growth and power, the former Harvard Business School professor said.

John Kao

The U.S. public education system, however, does not adequately prepare students, and many scientists-in-training are discouraged by what they see as a federal grant system that has inconsistent priorities and lacks funding, he said.

Meanwhile, there are more opportunities for students and scientists in places outside the United States. Singapore, for example, hired the head of the National Cancer Institute as part of its Biopolis program to expand its biotechnology industry.

Finland, which has twice as many Ph.D.s per capita as the U.S., has merged three of its universities to more effectively train students in its priority areas of education, science, innovation, and design.

Different countries have different models, ranging from heavy government direction like Finland, to the U.S. style "let 'er rip" system that relies on bottoms-up innovation. For the U.S. to better compete, Kao said, it needs a strategy that makes innovation more of a priority.

"A lot of other people are innovating when it comes to innovation because they have the stewardship, the strategy, and the will...because innovation serves a national ideal," he said. "Innovation may be about making new stuff, but it's very much about the complex and subtle interactions that have to be nurtured."

Rather than emulate France's technocrat-led "Grands Projets" approach, he said a better model is a hybrid that involves many parties, including government, academia, businesses, and entrepreneurs.

"I want to government to oversee the best platform possible, like the national highway system, but I want total freedom for entrepreneurs," he said.

In 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik spacecraft, the U.S. made math and science a priority, but right now, there is no overt threat. Prioritizing innovation for societal goals now is more like preventive medicine, he said.

The problem with current U.S. government efforts to drive technology innovation is that people are stuck in "incrementalism," rather than taking on a national innovation agenda. And many government leaders are indifferent to the innovation problem, he said.

Kao has spoken to some presidential candidates about his call for a national innovation strategy, but would not endorse a specific candidate.

He did note that Barack Obama, perceived as a youthful candidate able to inspire people, should be talking more about innovation and that Hillary Clinton has made three major speeches so far on science and innovation.

[ghostofitpast]

We Tell Stories in Order to be Heard

Having made the argument that such talk about innovation amounted to little more than self-deluding story-telling in Davos, I see no reason why it should be any different on the MIT campus:

http://therehearsalstudio.blogspot.com/2008/01/language-and-fear.html

[ToddWBeaver]

No, we don't

No, we don't need a national strategy. We need to let free enterprise innovate. We need to reduce barriers for starting new companies.

We need to make America more competitive through the free market, which encourages innovation.

[scdecade]

Agree!

We absolutely do not need a national strategy.

[cflanagan]

And Rhode Island might hold the key!

I had the opportunity to interview John Kao a few weeks ago. (My Q&A is here)

When you deal with populations instead of employees and governments instead of competitors, something as simple as a ?common agenda? becomes difficult to achieve. I appreciate Kao's fervor to inspire U.S. leaders to move from just ?getting? the importance of innovation to ?getting innovation done.?

We need to start addressing the systemic nature of problems. We talked a lot about the importance of place power and how even the smallest of regions can create huge innovative output.

And full disclosure: Kao is on our research advisory council. We're in the midst of establishing the state of Rhode Island as a real-world experimentation lab for testing new business models.

[baldguy61]

Government Innovation

As long as governmental agencies think they are the source of innovative ideas, nothing much will change except possibly the size of government. Innovation comes from the garages of entrepreneurs, not the Halls of Ivy. The best thing government can do to foster innovation is get out of the way. Academics are by their very nature anti-innovation. When they see someone outside their own school coming up with an innovative product, they do all they can to squelch it as a threat to their own livelihood. Research grants in academia tend to be simply PHD full employment programs and little else.

[hotchick990052]

Hillary is ready!

Hillary is ready to lead can beat John McCain, Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. has no Record to run on!

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