Innovation and invention drive the American economy, from the light bulb and mass production of automobiles, to more recent advances like the smartphone and the coordinated effort to map the human genome. But what new breakthrough sciences and technologies are next on the horizon, and what role can U.S. policy play in creating a positive environment to promote innovative developments?
On Tuesday, June 28, 2011, The Hamilton Project at Brookings held a forum on the future of innovation in the United States which explored the challenges to, and opportunities for, furthering advancements to create jobs and spur economic growth.
The forum drew on a wide range of experts from around the country, including the director of the National Institutes of Health, two former U.S. Treasury Secretaries, one of the nation’s leading private investors in the technology industry, a co-chair of the President’s Advisory Board on Science and Technology, a MacArthur Foundation Genius Award winner, the Chief Technology Officer of the United States, the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and a group of prominent U.S. economists.
Following each of the panel discussions, the participants took audience questions.
Agenda
Welcome
Robert E. Rubin
Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary
Panel Discussion: The State of Scientific America
Angela Belcher
Professor of Materials Science Engineering and Biological Engineering, MIT
Francis S. Collins
Director, National Institutes of Health
Moderator: Ann Kellan
Science Correspondent, Cable News Network
Panel Discussion: Obstacles and Opportunities for American Science and Innovation
Tim Bresnahan
Professor of Technology and the Economy, Stanford University
Aneesh Chopra
Chief Technology Officer of the United States
Tyler Cowen
Professor of Economics, George Mason University
Glenn H. Hutchins
Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive, Silver Lake
Moderator: Michael Greenstone
Director, The Hamilton Project
Remarks on President Obama’s Regulatory Review Process
Cass Sunstein
Administrator, The Office of Information and Regulatory and Affairs
Introduction: Roger C. Altman
Founder and Chairman, Evercore Partners
Panel Discussion: A Path Forward — The Future of Innovation in the United States
Eric Lander
Founding Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Co-Chair of the President’s Advisory Board on Science and Technology
Lawrence H. Summers
Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University
Former Assistant to the President for Economic Policy
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary
Moderator: Greg Ip
U.S. Economics Editor, The Economist
