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The US Council on Competitiveness - released their Interim Report - "Innovate America: Thriving in a world of challenge and change"

According to the preliminary report, Innovation fosters the new ideas, technologies, and processes that lead to better jobs, higher wages and a higher standard of living. For advanced industrial nations no longer able to compete on cost, the capacity to innovate is the most critical element in sustaining competitiveness.

First, we must apply innovation to address the greatest challenges of our time. These are not areas where the United States does not 'compete' with the rest of the world, but rather 'collaborates.'  It is in everyone's interests to win the war against terrorism, to improve healthcare (including the ability to manage global epidemiological crises), to provide economic security, to develop options for an aging population, to find affordable, environmentally friendly approaches to energy, to bring the promise of communication and information networks to all parts of the globe.

Second, we must embrace a new strategy to sustain and strengthen our national innovation eco-system. These are the areas where we do compete, and in which we intend to lead. We want our educational system to be the most advanced in the world. We want our economy, lifestyle, market climate and infrastructure to be the model for nurturing innovation - and for attracting innovators from all over the world. We want to develop capabilities to generate a disproportionate share of the best-paying and most intellectually challenging jobs. These are the priorities that must dominate our public expenditures and drive our companies' investments - and that will determine fundamentally our quality of life.

Third, we must share responsibility. Many stakeholders must enroll in this effort if we, as a nation, are to raise the bar. Federal government actions are important, but not sufficient. State and local government officials have a great deal of influence of innovation's success at the regional level. Industry, academia and workers all have major responsibilities to fulfill if we are to earn the benefits from 21st Century innovation.

How the United States responds to these realities is critically important. To stay at the forefront-to continue to offer the most fertile and attractive environment for innovation in the world-the Council has initiated this study group with plans for an Innovation Summit in December 2004. Samuel J. Palmisano, Chairman and CEO of IBM Corporation, and G. Wayne Clough, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, chair this National Innovation Initiative.

For further information, visit the website: http://www.compete.org/.

The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive review of the scope, trends and major actors in the development and use of methods to manage innovation in the knowledge-driven economy. The study concentrated on Innovation Management Techniques (IMTs) that aim to improve competitiveness, and specifically on those IMTs that focus on knowledge as an important part of the innovation process.

The information provided in this study is based both on an exhaustive literature research and an analysis of the opinions of a balanced (geographically and by nature of activity) cross-section of stakeholders in this field (business, academic centres, business schools, consulting firms, business support organisations and government). The survey was carried out by means of standard questionnaires sent in March 2002 to respondents in the 15 Member States of the European Union, Japan and the United States.

In total, some 433 completed questionnaires were returned. The information collected from the survey was completed via phone interviews with the most representative stakeholders, which went into more detail on certain issues of relevance for the study and clarified some outstanding questions.

For further information, contact: entr-info-communic@cec.eu.int

This extraordinary 75th anniversary issue is packed with an understanding of the pitfalls and promise of innovation. The issue includes a photo essay of previous covers, illustrations of leaps made since 1929 and areas where more needs to be done, features of innovators and the investor community. There is even a Photo Essay of Global Brain Power featuring China, Korea, India and more.

Take a look at the sample article titles:

-  This Way to the Future
-  The Best of What's New
-  The Old World Becomes a Little Newer
-  Building an Idea Factory
-  360 Degree Innovation
-  Are Copyright Laws Chilling Innovation
-  Industry and Academia Weigh In
-  The Search for Tomorrow

And the Voices of Innovation include: Steve Jobs (Apple), Cherry Murray (Lucent Bell Laboratories), Shirley Anne Jackson (AAAS), Wallace Broecker (Columbia University), Craig Venter, Roger McNamee (Silver Lake Partners), Faqir Chand Kohli (Tata Consultancy), Yuan Longping (China's R&D), Tim Berners-Lee (MIT), Jeff Hawkins (Palm Pilot PDA), and Amory Lovins (Rocky Mountain Institute).

In describing this issue, the question is posed: Should we expect the next 75 years to bring the same sort of exciting and radical innovation that has transformed information technology and health care? Or will the progress be slower and more incremental -- an elaboration of existing technologies and industries rather than the birthing of new ones? In short, where is the Innovation Economy heading?

"Making predictions about technological change is always perilous. But, as we hope to show in this Special Report, the global economy could be on the cusp of an age of innovation equal to that of the past 75 years. All the right factors are in place: Science is advancing rapidly, more countries are willing to devote resources to research and development and education, and corporate managers, too, are convinced of the importance of embracing change."