Google Chair Speaks Out About What He Describes as America’s Innovation Deficit

In a recent column for The Washington Post, Google’s chairman and CEO, Eric Schmidt, called for the United States to “erase our innovation deficit” and outlined several steps for doing just that.  According to Schmidt the US lags behind countries such as Germany and China especially in cutting edge research areas like renewable energy

Schmidt outlines a number of recommendations for erasing this deficit including recognizing that innovation in today’s world is more often than not driven from the bottom up; as opposed to the top down approach of yesterday when big investments were made in the military and NASA.  “The ideas that power the next generation of growth are just as likely to originate in a coffee shop as in the laboratory of a big corporation,” he writes.

Schmidt further calls on Congress to level the playing field ensuring that every bill it passes promotes competition for smaller businesses as opposed to protecting the interests of the incumbents.  He praised Congress for doubling science funding last year and asks for the extension of the R&D tax credit.
Risk-taking (including tolerating failure, if something is learned from that failure) needs to be encouraged.  “Show me a program with a 100 percent success rate, and I’ll show you one with 0 percent innovation,” says Schmidt.

“Right now, somewhere in the United States, someone is working at a kitchen table, in a dorm room or garage, developing an idea that could not only create a new industry but could also just possibly change the world,” Schmidt says.  “If we provide the right environment, she’ll do just that.

For more of Schmidt’s recommendations and the rest of the story, click here