Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank Remarks at Tech Town Innovation Incubator, Dayton, Ohio Thank you for that kind introduction. And I want to thank the team at Tech Town for inviting us and for the tour. I have to say I was impressed by my behind-the-scenes glimpse. Both UA Vision and Persistent Surveillance are at the front lines of America’s high-tech economy, helping lead Dayton and the rest of the country into the 21st century with their extraordinary efforts.
Really, there’s no better place than Tech Town to talk about American innovation. No matter how many Democrats or how many Republicans are in the room, there is common agreement that our nation’s ability to innovate will determine what kind of economy–and even what kind of country–our children and grandchildren will inherit. It will decide whether the United States will offer the same economic opportunities for future generations that it did for our parents and grandparents.
In his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, President Obama laid out a blueprint for an economy that’s built to last–an economy built in large part on American ingenuity, the skills of our workers and a renewal of American values.
There is a basic American promise that if you work hard enough, you will earn enough to raise your family, pay your bills and save a little for retirement. In the past decade, our economy has not delivered on that promise. Even before the recession of 2008-09, incomes for middle-American families were stagnant, despite overall economic growth.
We need to renew the American promise and build a nation where everyone who does their fair share will have a fair chance of succeeding.
There are many policy issues we could talk about today that will help create jobs and create a long-term vibrant and growing economy. We could talk about making sure all of our children get a good education; we could talk about the need to invest in our nation’s infrastructure–its roads, and ports, and electric utility grid, and high-speed internet connections. But because we’re at Tech Town, what I’m going to talk about is innovation.
The president said: “Innovation is what America has always been about.” We know that innovation is necessary for businesses to succeed, grow and create good jobs for American workers.
There has been an ongoing and often deeply divisive debate in Washington over how our economic future might develop. On one side, you’ve got a group that thinks federal fiscal austerity is the key.
But any approach where we cut the budget first and ask questions later ignores the very strategies that helped make America the preeminent economic power of the 20th century. It threatens our ability to invest in key priorities, particularly those things that foster innovation and economic growth.
Instead, we need to be smart about budget cuts. There are some things that the Federal government does that are deeply important to our long-term economic future.
One such area... where the returns in new jobs and new technologies have traditionally far exceeded the money invested on the front end by the federal government... where the government is a vital partner with the private sector... is innovation.
While private citizens and private businesses are the primary source of new ideas–from concept to commercialization–the government plays a key role in this effort.
Basic research and development activities are under-provided by businesses, and governments around the world recognize the need for public support of this type of work at universities and research institutes.
The president on Tuesday emphasized that we should continue to invest in basic research and new discoveries.
The U.S. has a proud tradition of supporting the work of federal and university labs. And this support has helped change our world. The Internet, satellite communications and aeronautics, among other job-creating advances, would not have been possible without the use of wisely-spent tax dollars.
That’s why this administration has focused on a series of initiatives in these areas, including:
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
