Event Summary: The Next Generation of Earth System Education

On Earth Day 2013, Monday, April 22^nd, a panel of Geo-science, technology, engineering and mathematics Master Teachers convened at the Wilson Center to discuss several innovative endeavors to engage teachers and students in Earth science studies using state-of-the art technologies and education resources.  The event was co-hosted by the Program on America and the Global Economy (PAGE) and the Global Sustainability and Resilience Program.  The event was moderated by Kent Hughes, Director of PAGE.

John Moore, Director of Geo-science STEM Education at Palmyra Cove Nature Park and Environmental Discovery Center in New Jersey, former Albert Einstein Distinguished Education Fellow, and Executive Director for the American Council of STEM Teachers opened the panel discussion by pointing out two very important and influential opportunities for reform in STEM education: the PCAST Report to the President on plans for improvements in K-12 STEM education released on September 15, 2010 and the recently released Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) report which outlines the new voluntary, rigorous, and internationally benchmarked standards for K-12 science education.  Moore emphasized the importance of, “developing the teachers’ voice,” providing several examples of projects for leadership and professional development of teachers such as the DataStreme Project, a distance learning course designed by the American Meteorological Society,  and Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE), a worldwide network for sharing resources for primary and secondary earth science education.

Marcia Barton spoke next about the opportunities and challenges for STEM educators.  She agreed that the NGSS report provided an opportunity to transform science in the United States by integrating the sciences instead of using current standards of teaching the sciences separately.  The NGSS report also elevated earth and space science, including them more in the proposed curriculum.  The challenges for geo-science, according to Barton, were taking advantage of this increased focus and engaging the students in this material, and training the next generation of teachers.  She proposed starting an academy for innovation and sustainability to engage students in geo-science and engineering, especially with the increase in job opportunities for geoscientists.  Based on President Obama’s initiative to prepare 100,000 new STEM teachers in the next decade, Barton suggested making 30,000 of those earth and space system science teachers.

Vicky Gorman discussed efforts to promote geo-science education in her community with the Citizen Science Education Program (CSEP).  CSEP was designed by middle school students and tailored for their own community.  The program seeks to increase scientific literacy within the community and is part of the Weather Ready Nation network, a NOAA initiative.  Gorman stressed the importance of communication and leadership skills within students to prepare them for the workforce, with development of those skills starting in middle school.  She stated, “Unless students are marketable, all their education goes to waste.”  Gorman emphasized the importance of geo-science education as it encompasses chemistry, physics, and biology and applies to real-life situations and the global economy and where our workforce needs to be.

Peter Dorofy commented on the technology challenges of teaching earth science.  Traditionally, earth science is a non-lab course but with increasing technological advances such as GPS, GIS, remote sensing, and real-time data, that is changing.  He spoke of the challenges at his technical college in New Jersey, such as budget cuts and shifting programs, and how to make earth science relevant to students who have already chosen a career.  Dorofy stated it was key to identify real-life situations in which earth science can be applied and to take advantage of all the technology in the field to excite students.

John Moore recapped the first part of the panel and reiterated that teachers have a unique opportunity to push earth science.   The problem is in implementation.  Moore stated that in many schools the 1996 NGS Standards are barely implemented today, therefore, the responsibility will lie with the next generation of teachers to ensure that these new standards are realized.

Kevin Simmons and Jin Kang explained new technology in the geoSTEM field: cubesats, microsatellites, which are powerful, interactive tools that can be used by schools to provide data from space.  Cubesats introduce children to systems engineering and allow them to put the engineering method, which Simmons distinguished from the scientific method, into practice.  Kang emphasized the two essential factors of effective education: motivation and hands-on education which are key to encouraging creativity and innovation.

The panel responded to audience questions about the integrity of the geoSTEM programs, differences between the U.S. and Korean education systems, and the new common core standards and standardized testing.

Drafted by Elizabeth White

Click here to view the video recording of this event.

The Challenge of a Changing China

Lower than expected growth numbers from China on Monday have raised worries that China’s economy may be losing momentum.  Forecasted to have a growth rate around 8%, China’s actual growth came in at a lesser 7.7% for the January to March quarter, compared with 7.9% in the previous three months. This slower growth is in part due to lagging recoveries in the US and Europe causing China’s exports to decline. However, it is important to note that major, if understated, structural changes within China’s own economy have also contributed to these unexpectedly low growth numbers.

Rapidly rising wages have led to a systemic shift in the way China’s economy currently operates and have caused the country to move away from its traditional reliance on low cost manufacturing. China is looking towards a transition to a more sustainable economic growth model and these numbers might be indicative of the growing pains that China is currently facing. In fact, according to Ms Yao of Societe Generale,”Given Beijing’s goal of restructuring the economy, a relatively moderate economic growth is not a bad thing in the longer term.” While China will likely remain a manufacturing hub thanks to its relatively mature investment environment, superior infrastructure, and skilled workforce, it is the higher-knowledge industry sector and domestic consumption that will be the future drivers of Chinese growth.

Improving wages and job opportunities have created an optimistic and vibrant consumer class that has demanded both a higher standard of living and higher quality goods and services. Metaphorically speaking, Chinese citizens are emerging from the factories and entering the malls. Rather than being a mere base of production, China has become a prime market to sell into as consumption continues to increase. This massive and complex market holds huge commercial potential for those businesses that can successfully adapt and gain a foothold. Meanwhile, China itself can benefit greatly from increased foreign direct investment as its economy continues to mature.

Despite China’s economic dynamism, it is still a place that is plagued with many dilemmas that limit its potential. Some of the most infamous issues revolve around corruption, which is especially rampant at the local level leading to staggering pollution, serious quality control issues, and enormous levels of inequality. In addition, China’s educational system is stunted by its singular focus on testing and needs to be reworked to foster creativity and innovation, skills that are vital in an increasingly connected global marketplace. These concerns may limit China’s global economic potential, especially when major policy efforts are still needed to address these critical domestic problems.

Overall, China is still dealing with the disorder commonly found during major economic transition. Its switch from a primarily manufacturing economy to a consumer economy may take time as growth rates begin to rebalance. In fact, it is likely that  these declining numbers indicate not economic problems in China, but an economic changing-of-the-guard that will result in less dramatic, healthier, and more reliable economic growth.

Posted by: Matthew Goldberg

Sources: The Economist, BBC News, Bloomberg, CME Group

Photo Credit: China Pavilion courtesy of flickr user Wojtek Gurak

You are invited: The Next Generation of Earth System Education

The Program on America and the Global Economy and the Global Sustainability and Resilience Program Present:

The Next Generation of Earth System Education

Monday, April 22, 2013

3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

5^th Floor Conference Room, Woodrow Wilson Center

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Panelists: 

John D. Moore, Albert Einstein Distinguished Education Fellow Emeritus, Director for Geoscience STEM Education, Palmyra Cove Nature Park and Environmental Discovery Center

Marcia Barton, Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, NSF, Directorate for Geosciences

Peter Dorofy, NESTA Eastern Regional Director, American Meteorological Society K-12 Distinguished Educator

Vicky Gorman, AMS DataStreme Atmosphere Resource Teacher, GLOBE Program

Kevin Simmons, Albert Einstein Distinguished Education Fellow Emeritus, Senior Policy Analyst, EDJ Associates Inc., Industrial Innovation and Partnerships Division Engineering Directorate, NSF

Jin Kang, Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering, U.S. Naval Academy

Moderator: 

Kent Hughes, Director, Program on America and the Global Economy

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Celebrate Earth Day as a select panel of GeoSTEM Master Teachers discuss how teacher-leaders have come together to put policy into practice.  GeoSTEM is an ongoing educational endeavor to engage teachers and students in an innovative study of Planet Earth using state-of-the-art technologies and educational resources. Through programs such as the American Meteorological Society’s DataStreme Project, the GLOBE Program, and others, teachers are enhancing content knowledge, developing projects, and collaborating in projects that utilize real time and remote sensing data, promote 21st Century Workforce Development Skills, involve the local community and contribute to building the next generation of geoscientists.

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Visit The Program on America and the Global Economy website for more information and to RSVP or send an email (acceptances only) to page@wilsoncenter.org

The Wilson Center is located in the Ronald Reagan Building at 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. (Federal Triangle Metro stop on the Blue/ Orange Line) For a map and directions see: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/directions.  Please bring a photo ID and arrive 15 minutes ahead to allow time for the security checkpoint. 

How Important is Government to Innovation?

The US government must soon begin to make tough decisions about how to most effectively balance the budget. The key to resolving this issue is to figure out how to cut spending responsibly without hindering the government’s capacity to promote growth. A significant question that arises from this debate is whether national expenditures on research and development are useful for fostering innovation.

The conventional belief is that innovation is born through competition in the private sector. However, this may overlook the crucial role that government plays in the development of key technologies. The government provides something that the private sector cannot: cost-is-no-object engineering. With their singular aims and large purse, government programs are not restrained by profit-making like the industries in the private sector. It often takes patient, determined, or plain foolish capital, and a lot of it, to turn high-concept ideas into functional prototypes and a body of knowledge capable of driving private innovation and production. Government support for innovation obviously turns up its share of duds, representing a waste of real resources that could have gone toward some other end. Yet, as history has shown, amazing things happen when government investment succeeds. Take the initiative shown during the formative years of the computing era; the government was an enormous source of demand for all the intermediaries of computing power production and computing power itself. America’s military machine brought brilliant people together, demanded they do work requiring extraordinary computational power, and plied them with the funds to develop and build early computers. That work created expertise, component supply, and even private demand that fueled subsequent private investments.

This of course does not diminish the private sector’s vital role in innovation development. In fact, government investment and free-market improvement are almost symbiotic. Forbes lays out two key points that explains the co-dependent nature of the government and the private sector in innovation advancement.

1.)     Reliance on the government to invest in early innovative research because free-market actors cannot do so profitably by themselves;

2.)     Reliance on the free-market to competitively finish the later part of the innovation process because the government cannot realize its return on research investment otherwise

Therefore, it is vital that Congress adopts a budget plan that does not hamper the government’s ability to invest in innovation. US economic success is firmly rooted in technological innovation and this budget debate is a key moment in determining the future of the US economy.

Posted by: Matthew Goldberg

Sources: The Economist, Forbes

Photo Credit: Army scientists energize battery research courtesy of flickr user RDECOM

World Economic Forum 2013: A Post Crisis Davos

As the global economy begins to show signs of recovery, leading economic thinkers, heads of states, and major CEOs recently met in Davos, Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum. These VIPs attended numerous events, networked, and traversed a new global economic landscape characterized by renewed optimism. The new disposition was reflected by this year’s theme—“resilient dynamism”—which represents an important shift in the perception of the world economy from something that is weathered to a force that can provide new opportunities.

While the outlook has become more hopeful, it does not mean that we are out of the woods just yet. As Axel A. Weber, Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS, Switzerland, and a Meeting Co-Chair, declared, “The feeling is that the worst is behind us. But the mood bordered on complacency.” Not everything pointed towards the positive, especially the WEF’s own Global Risks 2013 report which offers a pessimistic outlook, saying the global community’s ability to address significant challenges, such as global warming, were limited by economic issues like “severe income disparity” and “chronic fiscal imbalances.” The report concludes that these systemic problems must be addressed in the near future in order to both sustain global economic growth and to avoid widespread social unrest.

On an interesting side note, the WEF, working with the science magazine Nature, noted several important but relatively remote potential economic threats known collectively as “X Risk Factors.” These include: Runaway Climate Change, Significant Cognitive Enhancement, Rogue Deployment of Geoengineering, Costs of Living Longer, and Discovery of Alien Life. While these issues are currently not as tangible as “concerns such as failed states, extreme weather events, famine, macroeconomic instability or armed conflict,” says the WEF, “they capture broad and vaguely understood issues that could be hatching grounds for potential future risks.” However, it is not unimaginable that we may confront many of these issues in the coming decades, and therefore, it is prudent to prepare for these prospective threats.

Overall, while Davos may often be thought of merely as a gathering of “fat cats in the snow,” it does have real worth both through its influence in setting the economic discourse and its role as a place for global leaders to reflect on global economic challenges.

Posted by: Matthew Goldberg

Sources: WEF, CNN, Business Insider, The Information Daily

Photo Credit: World Economic Forum 2013: Microphones courtesy of flickr user World Economic Forum

Innovation Is What Drives Us: The Impact of Technology on Employment

The inexorable march of progress continues as Google carries on with its plan to bring driverless cars to a highway near you. This form of transportation—previously found only in the annals of science fiction—could prove a boon to the auto-industry and has many other profound implications for both business and society at large.

Among other things, Google’s self-driving car has reignited the larger debate over the role of technology in our lives, especially in the jobs market—a sector that is quite important to millions of working class Americans worried about employment prospects. This concern lies in the prevalent view that advanced technology is usurping jobs that would have otherwise gone to humans. An Associated Press analysis of employment data from 20 countries found that millions of mid-skill, mid-pay jobs already have disappeared over the past five years. With this data in mind, coupled with slow economic recovery, should the American people be worried? Not as much as you might think. It is helpful to realize that this sort of technological innovation has happened throughout history and, while jobs were indeed replaced, new ones arose that more than compensated for the original loss. For example, the combustion engine decimated makers of horse-drawn carriages, saddles, buggy whips and other occupations that depended on the horse trade. But it also resulted in huge auto plants that employed hundreds of thousands of workers, who were paid enough to help create a prosperous middle class. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz states, “What has always been true is that technology has destroyed jobs but also always created jobs.” The invention of the iPhone, for instance, has put more than 290,000 people to work on related iPhone apps since 2007, according to Apple. This suggests that innovative technology continues to create new types of jobs that require higher skills and creativity.

Like an employment phoenix rising from the ashes of a bygone industry, the American worker will undoubtedly be able to take advantage of new opportunities. For its part, the United States must continue to invest in the educational system so its students are able to take on the challenge of these new and exciting industries.

Posted by: Matthew Goldberg

Sources: Washington Post, Forbes, Associated Press, New York Times

Photo Credit: Google self-driving car in Mountain View courtesy of flickr user MarkDoliner

Google’s Worldwide Anti-trust Woes- Coming to an End?

For the past two years the Federal Trade Commission has investigated the possibly anti-competitive actions of mega-company Google. Now, the investigation may be coming to a close as the FTC issued its final ultimatum: Google must produce a detailed proposal listing voluntary concessions the company will make to resolve issues over its search engine practices.

Several competitors, the most infamous of which is Microsoft but also including Yelp and TripAdvisor, have alleged that Google searches prioritize searches not necessarily by relevance but to promote their own products. Furthermore, competitors are concerned over potential copyright infringements of Google’s “snippets” which show with preliminary results. Microsoft has launched the “Scroogled” campaign to educate online users on the anti-trust battle and to ultimately persuade the audience to use Bing’s search engine honesty.

From Google’s point of view, spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker “the focus of Google is on Google and the positive impact our industry has on society, not competition”. They state that the order of search results is showcasing the best product available, which may put their own products over Bing or other rivals. They also state that regardless of the numberless ranking on the page, every site is equally one click away. Political proponents of Google, including several Democratic Senators have been outspoken on the issues, reminding the FTC that their job is not to protect competition but rather to aid consumers.

As Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon stated, it would be “troubling if the FTC sought to expand the use of its authority to target a company for simply being popular rather than engaging in unfair or deceptive practices that harm consumers.”

A similar anti-trust case is ongoing in Europe, which has offered Google comparable terms to end the need for a law suit. If Google’s proposal does not fit federal and EU expectations, the company could be charged up to 10% of the company’s value, or about $4 billion. Only time will tell the outcome of this case for Google, its competitors, and consumers worldwide.

Posted by: Sophia Higgins

Sources: Reuters, Time Business

Photo credit: Google @ photostream courtesy of Flickr user halilgokdal

Wilson Center Policy Brief Series: Manufacturing Matters, Strengthening America: Inventing the Future

The Wilson Center recently released two essays by Kent Hughes, Director of the Program on America and the Global Economy, in its series of policy briefs on critical issues which will run from now until Inauguration Day.

 

Manufacturing Matters

Manufacturing plays a key role in the U.S. economy and will continue to do so. The private sector provides roughly 70 percent of total U.S. spending on research and development, and the bulk of that amount comes from manufacturing enterprises. Manufacturing generates 90 percent of U.S. patents. It also is central to the system that translates laboratory research into commercial products, thus generating jobs and creating wealth. Manufacturing also constitutes the single most important export sector of the economy and is thus critical to America’s ability to pay its way in the international economy. Finally, manufacturing generates millions of jobs, which provide pay and benefits that exceed the national average. Looking ahead, the United States needs a manufacturing strategy that can support the emergence of advanced manufacturing processes that, in conjunction with low-cost energy, can revitalize the U.S. manufacturing sector.

>> Read the Policy Brief in its Entirety

Strengthening America: Inventing the Future

The U.S. innovation system has enormous strengths, including public and private support for research and development, the world’s best university system, and an entrepreneurial risk-taking culture. But those elements of the system now face several domestic and international challenges. In the United States, cuts in federal spending could reduce support for university research. The kindergarten through 12th grade (K–12) education system struggles to keep pace with the rising demands of the 21st-century workplace. Internationally, the United States now faces competition to attract or keep advanced manufacturing firms, research facilities, and top scientific talent. The United States will need to maintain support for research and development (R&D), improve its education system, and learn from best practices around the world.

>> Read the Policy Brief in its Entirety

Starbucks: Serving So Much More than a Cup of Coffee

Starbucks was not kidding around when they dropped the word “coffee” from the logo. As of Wednesday, November 14^th Starbucks Corporation has acquired Teavana Holdings Inc. for about $620 million. Entering the tea market is the latest strategy of the company to satisfy a growing global consumer demand for caffeinated beverages. In the words of Starbucks CFO Troy Alstead, “[tea] is the second-most consumed beverage in the world, second only to water. We should be leading in tea.”

Expanding into different beverage markets is a logical next choice for the company, which has seen a drop in domestic store presence by 440 locations within the last four years. Teavana marks the largest of a string of acquisitions by the coffee giant, including a $30 million deal with fresh juice brand Evolution Fresh Inc. and a $100 million purchase of La Boulange Bakery (Bay Bread LLC) last year. This is not the corporation’s first foray into the tea market. Tazo Tea was acquired in 1999 is now worth approximately $1.4 billion annually in pre-packed tea bag and drink sales. The two brands, however, will not create an Apple-like cannibalism of sales; Starbucks maintains that the two brands are “complementary” and company leadership has yet to decide if they will both be sold in Starbucks locations.

The company has released a plan to open 1,000 new Teavana stores in the US within the next five years. Will these new locations maintain Teavana’s trademark brand image loose-tea and its pottery shop ambience, or will the consistent packaging of a Starbucks experience be present in the new Teavana stores? While this remains to be seen, company heads have stated that their coffee will not be sold within Teavana shops.

This is likely to be an image and not a monetary decision for the corporation. Besides ownership of the entire drink experience- coffee, tea, juice- and the pastry on the side, Starbucks also earns billions each year in sales of its retail bottled beverages and juices at grocery stores and quick stop shoppes. Furthermore, the coffee king is planning to extend its reach into far-flung markets favoring tea, particularly in China and India where tea is consumer up to 16 and 7 times more often than coffee, respectively. Teavana, having recently expanded past North America and into Kuwait, will certainly get more face time on the global market as a result of one of Starbucks’ “smartest acquisitions” yet.

 

Posted by: Sophia Higgins

Sources: Bloomberg News, Reuters, Starbucks Corporation

Photo credit: Black Coffee and Tea in White Cup is Hot @ epSos.de’s photostream courtesy of Flickr user epSos.de

Internet Censorship vs. Copyright Infringement: a mini-case study in The Pirate Bay?

The Pirate Bay, a massively popular site where users can find links to pirated content via an internal search engine, has run up against copyright laws since its birth in 2003. Now, the file-sharing site’s founders Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm and Carl Lundström are paying the price as Sweden’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal to relieve them of prison sentences and a cumulative $6.7 million fine.

This case, ruled on October 29^th, represents a wider controversy between groups which fear that shutting down sites like the Pirate Bay contribute to censorship and groups which see free file-sharing as an infringement on the copyrights of record companies. This ongoing battle between the camps have come to a head in recent years, infamously begun by the prosecution of Napster in 2001, in cases like the Pirate Bay. Are sites like these stealing from artists by not paying for the right to share the music? Should companies required to pay for the musical copyrights of songs when their websites only guide the user on where to download pirated files, or rely on peer-peer file-sharing?

In the case of the Pirate Bay, the legal victor has been the record companies. The site is now blocked in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Finland, and the list is growing. According to several technology blogs, Neij, Svartholm, and Lundström feared that the United States was also looking to prosecute. In seeking to avoid litigation from the US, the site’s domain was changed from American-registered “.org” to Sweden’s “.se” in February of this year. Additionally, the site now utilizes the cloud to avoid detection from authorities. Though the legalities are debatable as to whether or not these methods prevent the Pirate Bay from seizure, it is likely that the United States will attempt to follow the international trend and ban the site. Historically, the US has been actively pursuing similar litigation suits with other popular torrent sites such as surfthechannel, which led to a website block and a jail sentence for piracy.

For better or for worse, the precedent set by the Supreme Court of Sweden in the Pirate Bay case reflects a support for record companies over expanding internet user freedoms. Nevertheless, the ongoing battle between copyright infringement codes and internet censorship promises to continue to play out in the years (and legal cases) ahead.

Posted by: Sophia Higgins

Sources: BBC, Time, PC World

Photo credit: The Pirate Bay Makes Itself Raid-Proof by Moving to the Cloud @ photostream courtesy of Flickr user methodshop.com