Improving the America COMPETES Act

Posted by: Mark Marich on March 16, 2010 Source: Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has released a new report: “Eight Ideas for Improving the America COMPETES Act.” Robert Atkinson, ITIF President, argues that reauthorizing the America COMPETES Act provides an opportunity to continue policies the U.S. needs to compete in the innovation-based global economy, but more can and should be done. 

Atkinson outlines eight ideas to improve the U.S. innovation system:

1. Fund specialty math and science high schools. 
2. Fund joint government-industry STEM Ph.D. fellowships.
3. Allow foreign students receiving STEM Ph.D.s from U.S. universities to automatically qualify for green cards.
4. Create an SCNR program (Spurring Commercialization of Our Nation’s Research) modeled after the SBIR and STTR programs to support university, state and federal laboratory technology commercialization initiatives.
5. Create a university-industry collaborative R&D tax credit.
6. Fund industry-university-government manufacturing research and deployment centers.
7. Establish an Office of Innovation Policy in OMB (i.e., an Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for Innovation).
8. Institute a National Innovation and Competitiveness Strategy modeled on the National Broadband Strategy.

Category:  Education  General