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Jobs Council Discusses Innovation and American Competitiveness

January 17, 2012 at 6:19 PM ET by Quentin Palfrey
Summary: 
Today, at a meeting with President Obama, the President’s Council on Jobs & Competitiveness released a new report entitled Road Map to Renewal which lays out a set of recommendations to improve our Nation’s competitiveness over the long term.

Today, at a meeting with President Obama, the President’s Council on Jobs & Competitiveness released a new report entitled Road Map to Renewal, which lays out a set of recommendations to improve our Nation’s competitiveness over the long term.  The Jobs Council – created by President Obama and made up of 27 prominent leaders from business, labor, and academia – advises the Administration on mechanisms for spurring job creation in the near term while also working to ensure lasting American competitiveness.

The report released today builds on last October’s Jobs Council report that focused on accelerating job creation over the next five years and offers six key recommendations:

  1. invest in our future by ensuring Americans have the right education and skills to realize their full potential and drive our Nation’s economic success.  This chapter calls for a transformation of our education system from preschool through K-12, especially in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, as well as ensuring that our higher education and professional training programs are better aligned to meet student needs;
  2. Renew our Nation’s commitment to investing in innovation, including the research to develop new technologies, the capital to turn ideas into industries, and a 21st century workforce with the skills to sustain our competitive edge and develop the next round of game-changing inventions;
  3. adopt an “all-in” approach to energy that optimizes all of America’s natural resources, drives innovation and investment, and promotes efficiency to reduce our overall energy dependence.
  4. revitalize the American manufacturing sector by emphasizing our traditional manufacturing advantages while taking more aggressive measures in key sectors to take share from global competitors.
  5. enhance American competitiveness through smart regulatory reforms focused on actively engaging stakeholders, improving regulatory procedures wherever possible, and conducting regulatory impact analysis.
  6. enact tax reforms that level the playing field for businesses and make the U.S. more competitive internationally.


We look forward to rolling up our sleeves to address many of the great ideas in today’s Jobs Council report.

Quentin Palfrey is Senior Advisor to the CTO for Jobs & Competitiveness