You Are Invited: Universities, High-skilled Immigration, and Regulatory Reform: Implications for America’s Economic Future

The Program on America and the Global Economy (PAGE) Presents:

 

Universities, High-skilled Immigration, and Regulatory Reform: Implications for America’s Economic Future

 

Friday, July 13, 2012

12:00 – 1:15 p.m.

B-369 Rayburn House Office Building

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Speakers:

 Joseph Kennedy, Former Chief Economist, US Department of Commerce

Karthick Ramakrishnan, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California Riverside and Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow

 Jim Woodell, Director of Innovation and Technology Policy, Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities

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

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 A panel of experts will discuss key aspects of the Start-Up Act with a special focus on the provisions designed to accelerate the commercialization of university research, the regulating of start-up companies, and the broadening of opportunities for temporary immigrants with post-graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to eventually quality for permanent residency visas.

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Please RSVP acceptances only to page@wilsoncenter.org

 

 

Posted by: PAGE Staff

You Are Invited: The Start-Up Act 2.0 and American Innovation

The Program on America and the Global Economy Presents:

 The Start-Up Act 2.0 and American Innovation

 Thursday, June 28, 2012

9:00 – 11:30 a.m.

Joseph and Claire Flom Auditorium, 6^th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

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 Keynote:

 Senator Chris Coons, Delaware

 Panelists:

 Michael Waring, Executive Director, Federal Relations, The University of Michigan

 Joseph Kennedy, Former Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Commerce

 Peter Mueller, Director, Government Relations, Intel Corporation

 Moderator:

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

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 Senator Chris Coons is part of a bipartisan group of Senators that recently introduced the Startup Act 2.0 in the Senate.  He will provide a keynote address on the Act followed by a panel discussion that will focus on key aspects of the Start-Up Act 2.0.  There will be a special focus on the provisions designed to accelerate the commercialization of university research, the broadening of opportunities for temporary immigrants with post-graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) for visas for permanent residency, and the proposal to assess the impact of regulations.

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Please RSVP acceptances only to page@wilsoncenter.org

Directions to the Wilson Center: www.wilsoncenter.org/directions

TOMORROW- You are Invited and Live Webcast-The Start-up Act: Building America’s Entrepreneurial Future

The Program on America and the Global Economy Presents:

 The Start-up Act: Building America’s Entrepreneurial Future

 Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Joseph and Claire Flom Auditorium, 6^th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

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 8:30 a.m.

Registration and Continental Breakfast

 9:00-9:45 a.m.

Keynote Address:

Senator Jerry Moran, Kansas

Senator Mark Warner, Virginia

 9:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

 Panel Discussion:

Paula Collins, Vice President, Government Relations, Texas Instruments Incorporated

Toby Smith, Vice President for Policy, Association of American Universities

Audrey Singer, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

 Moderated by: Kent Hughes, Director, Program on America and the Global Economy

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Senators Warner and Moran will discuss key components of their Start-up Act, which they authored and introduced.  A panel discussion will follow with an examination of the prospects of accelerating the commercialization of university research, increasing opportunities for immigrants with advanced STEM (science, technology, engineering, and Mathematics) degrees and adding a STEM category for immigrant investors seeking permanent residence.

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Please RSVP acceptances only to page@wilsoncenter.org

Watch the live webcast here.

Directions to the Wilson Center: www.wilsoncenter.org/directions

Live Webcast April 24–The Start-up Act: Building America’s Entrepreneurial Future

 The Program on America and the Global Economy Presents:

 The Start-up Act: Building America’s Entrepreneurial Future

 Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Joseph and Claire Flom Auditorium, 6^th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

________________________________________________________________________        

 8:30 a.m.

Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00-9:45 a.m.

Keynote Address:

Senator Jerry Moran, Kansas

Senator Mark Warner, Virginia

 9:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

 Panel Discussion:

Paula Collins, Vice President, Government Relations, Texas Instruments Incorporated

Toby Smith, Vice President for Policy, Association of American Universities

Audrey Singer, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

 Moderated by: Kent Hughes, Director, Program on America and the Global Economy

 ________________________________________________________________________

Senators Warner and Moran will discuss key components of their Start-up Act, which they authored and introduced.  A panel discussion will follow with an examination of the prospects of accelerating the commercialization of university research, increasing opportunities for immigrants with advanced STEM (science, technology, engineering, and Mathematics) degrees and adding a STEM category for immigrant investors seeking permanent residence.

 ________________________________________________________________________

Please RSVP acceptances only to page@wilsoncenter.org

Watch the live webcast here.

Directions to the Wilson Center: www.wilsoncenter.org/directions

You are Invited–The Start-up Act: Building America’s Entrepreneurial Future

The Program on America and the Global Economy Presents:

 The Start-up Act: Building America’s

Entrepreneurial Future

 Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Joseph and Claire Flom Auditorium, 6^th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

________________________________________________________________________        

 8:30 a.m.

Registration and Continental Breakfast

 9:00-9:45 a.m.

Keynote Address:

Senator Jerry Moran, Kansas

Senator Mark Warner, Virginia

  9:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

 Panel Discussion:

Paula Collins, Vice President, Government Relations, Texas Instruments Incorporated

Toby Smith, Vice President for Policy, Association of American Universities

Audrey Singer, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution (invited)

 Moderated by: Kent Hughes, Director, Program on America and the Global Economy

 ________________________________________________________________________

Senators Warner and Moran will discuss key components of their Start-up Act, which they authored and introduced.  A panel discussion will follow with an examination of the prospects of accelerating the commercialization of university research, increasing opportunities for immigrants with advanced STEM (science, technology, engineering, and Mathematics) degrees and adding a STEM category for immigrant investors seeking permanent residence.

________________________________________________________________________

Please RSVP acceptances only to page@wilsoncenter.org

For more information on this event click here.

Directions to the Wilson Center: www.wilsoncenter.org/directions

Save the Date: April 24– Start-Up Act Event with Senators Warner and Moran

Hold the Morning of April 24: As Senators Moran and Warner will discuss key aspects of their Start-Up Act.  Their presentation will be followed by a high-powered panel focused on key aspects of the Act.

This event will take place in the Joseph and Claire Flom Auditorium at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Stayed tuned to the blog and the PAGE website for additional details.

Improving the Environment for Entrepreneurship

Complementing a PAGE event last September, a recent event at the Brookings Institution entitled Improving the Environment for Entrepreneurship  sought to highlight the role of entrepreneurship and start-up businesses in improving the American economy, creating high-value jobs, and sharpening the country’s competitive edge within a Darwinian economic climate.

Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, delivered the keynote address, stressing the critical role that start-ups and small businesses play in the American economy.  However, he noted that this defining characteristic has waned in the wake of the recession, citing specifically that start-up companies had declined by 23% since 2007.  Interestingly, he points out that there has also been a “globalization of entrepreneurship” that has begun to model and compete with the preeminent American system. He emphasized the new public-private initiative, Start-up America Partnership, which is spreading awareness and providing assistance to entrepreneurs seeking to grow their business.  Also, major pieces of legislation, namely the Start-up Act and the AGREE Act, have been advanced with bipartisan support to promote job growth through entrepreneurship.  Citing renewed national awareness and broad the support for the policy, Case believes now must be the time to end the discussion and take action.

Senators Jerry Moran (R – Kan.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) did take action and cosponsored the Start-up Act in order to address this concern.  They agreed that the keys to fostering entrepreneurship in America included a favorable tax structure and a sensible regulatory policy, along with better means of capital formation and a streamlining of the IPO process.  In addition, they recognize that we need to win the “global battle for talent” by investing in education and developing smarter immigration policies.   This philosophy is put into practice in the bill, which includes an income tax credit for specified start-ups, potential Sarbanes-Oxley reform, and a process for expedited commercialization of university research.  In addition, the Act would amend immigration laws for those with degrees in STEM fields and other “alien entrepreneurs.” The two senators are a model for the bipartisan support of this issue, something that has become increasingly rare in a time that needs it most.

Stay tuned for more details on an upcoming PAGE event with Senator Warner on the Start-up Act on Tuesday April 24, 2012 at the Wilson Center.

Posted by: Brian Gowen

Sources: The Brookings Institution, The Library of Congress THOMAS

Amazon CEO’s Key to Success

In this month’s Technology Quarterly, The Economist ran an article looking into Jeff Bezos’s idea of what makes a firm successful. Bezos, the founder, CEO, and chairman of Amazon, believes that one of the greatest reasons for his success is the “ability to look beyond the short-term view of things.” The article elaborated on Bezos’s claim, stating that the Amazon CEO believes in prioritizing long-term goals, often at the expense of short-term profits.

Amazon’s considerable investments in the Kindle and its associated products also worried financial analysts, especially since Amazon has not disclosed sales figures and profits. Indeed, several earlier projects such as Amazon Auctions and Amapedia failed to establish themselves in the market and were eventually shut down. But again, Bezos is staunch in his belief in the importance of taking risks by exploring the unknown through long-term investments. Even though not all smart, risky moves taken will lead to profits, firms and investors who “conform and play it safe are not realizing their potential for developing new ideas and maintaining their competitiveness.

The Economist used the example of Amazon’s venture into cloud-computing services to illustrate the point. Although it seemed like a risky gamble, Bezos affirms that his “willingness to take a long-term view” and “explore uncharted territories” ultimately paid off; in addition to online retail, Amazon has attained prominence in the cloud-computing services sector. The Amazon CEO understands that “staying on top in the fast-changing world of technology is hard,” which lends more incentive for businesses to think in terms of long-term competitiveness. Currently, there are rumors suggesting that Amazon may be looking into launching a smartphone or a video-streaming service similar to Netflix.

 

Posted by: Pokyee Yu

Sources: The Economist

Photo Credit: Amazon Kindle 2 Wireless eBook Reader courtesy of flickr user goXunuReviews

The Rainforest: Building the Next Silicon Valley

For over a decade, Silicon Valley has been a hub of technological innovation and the home of some of America’s best known and fastest growing companies. Think Apple, Google, and Facebook.  As the U.S. seeks to restore its economic advantage, academics, businesspeople, and policymakers alike have turned to Silicon Valley as a model for jumpstarting economic growth.  The primary focus has been on innovation and the development of the next wave of technologies that the American economy can ride to renewed prosperity.  However, this task is much easier said than done, for creating a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem takes effort and purpose.

In an attempt to answer this question, Victor Hwang, co-founder and Managing Director of T2 Venture Capital in Silicon Valley and coauthor of the new book The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley, lays out a new model for thinking about innovation hubs and entrepreneurial epicenters.  Hwang uses the model of the “rainforest vs. the plantation” in order to illustrate his new framework.  The “plantation model” is the current model we use for innovation, defined by its controlled environment.  Plantation farmers know exactly what they are planting and how they are going to do it.  The outcome is organized and expected.  Rainforests are the complete opposite.  Growth in the rainforest is wild, asymmetric, and serendipitous.  The heterogeneous assortment of wildlife creates new species, and weeds actually grow best in the rainforest.  Hwang believes that the new species and weeds are the most valuable, symbolic of the new technologies or unconventional ideas often become the big breakthroughs that change society.

Much the way rainforests combine many different species, innovation can best be encouraged by bringing together people from diverse backgrounds and different locations.  In order to develop innovation on the scale of Silicon Valley, we should focus on human interaction, collaboration, and exchange over economists’ “factors of production.” However, we do not need to stress having a geographic location for this interaction.  If we simply emphasize connecting individuals and companies, it doesn’t matter where they physically are.  In addition, Hwang states that we should focus on the “creative re-assembly” of old and new ideas over the pursuit of “creative destruction,” which can be expedited through interaction.  Rather than developing explicit policy recommendations, Hwang instead outlines the tools that policymakers could use to help build more “rainforests.” These include an emphasis on learning by doing, enhancing diversity, celebrating roles models and peer interactions, building “tribes of trust,” creating social feedback loops to test ideas, and making social contracts explicit.

While Hwang’s ideas are on balance more philosophical than concrete, this new approach serves well to alter mainstream perspectives and infuse the innovation debate with fresh ideas. Hwang calls for a turn away from the neoclassical or cluster economics approaches to innovation.  Instead he argues that “social capital is the competitive advantage of the future,” and creating networks and strengthening human connectivity are the keys to developing that advantage.  Policymakers would be wise to reorient themselves towards this shift, and maintain America’s place as the center of great ideas.

Posted by: Brian Gowen

Photo courtesy of http://www.facebook.com/rainforestbook

Creating a Culture of Entrepreneurship

On Saturday, February 25 our colleague and Wilson Center Public Policy Scholar Amy Wilkinson delivered a speech to the National Governors Association.  As over 50 governors – which also include the highest executives of other U.S. territories – gathered for their annual winter meeting in Washington, D.C., Amy addressed the group on how they could better foster entrepreneurship and innovation in their home state.  At a time when economic growth and a restoration of American competitiveness are hot topics of discussion, Amy’s remarks outlined the practices through which state governments can make those visions a reality.

During the session entitled Creating an Entrepreneurial Culture, Amy discussed 3 overarching elements that should guide policymakers in their efforts to spur entrepreneurial innovation: a focus on people, places, and policies.  In this new age of entrepreneurship, Amy emphasizes four key groups that will spur most future growth: baby boomers, generation Y, foreign-born business owners, and women.  Policymakers would be wise to develop programs that target them specifically.  Also, policymakers should focus on creating “innovation hubs,” which tend to be centered by universities.  Policymakers should seek to encourage the commercialization of faculty innovation in order to benefit the greater community and the American economy.  Here, strong relationships between the public and private sectors are crucial and continued public sector support is a must.  Finally, governments need to focus on better policies that support entrepreneurship.  First, they would be wise to streamline the business registration process and the current tax structure, both of which tend to be obstacles for startups.  Lastly, she recommends creating “mentor matching” programs that will help guide our next generation of entrepreneurs through the wisdom they gain from others.

Amy concluded by highlighting the changing entrepreneurial paradigm in the United States.  She stresses that policymakers need to adapt to this paradigm shift in order to maintain American’s leading position on the innovation frontier.  While it will not be easy, she notes that many places across the country have done this before and thrived.  Now that entrepreneurship and innovation are part of the national conversation, the time for discussion is over.  The time for action is now.

If you would like to view the presentation in its entirety, click here. For a copy of the presentation, you can email Amy and amy@amymwilkinson.com .

Posted by: Brian Gowen

Photo Courtesy of amymwilkinson.com