SRI chief: Opportunities to spark American innovation abound
SRI CEO and President Curt Carlson
The state of innovation in America is bleak but the future
is paved with vast opportunities, SRI International President Curtis R. Carlson
said Thursday in a talk at the Festival Conference and Student Center.
Carlson's talk, "Creating Abundance in the Global
Innovation Economy" was one of the day's inaugural events and was attended
by JMU faculty, staff and students as well as representatives of area
governments, neighboring colleges and the local community. JMU was one of the
main reasons SRI chose in 2006 to create its Center for Advanced Drug Research in
Rockingham County. The university and SRI, one of the nation's leading
innovation organizations with more than 1,000 patents touching virtually every
sector of the American economy, have had a close working relationship ever
since.
Carlson noted many stumbling blocks that have sent the U.S.
tumbling from its spot as the most competitive country in 2008 to seventh in
2012. Among them a broken education
system, a tax system that discourages business creation and restrictive
immigration policies that prohibit highly talented people from entering the
country. "We're falling behind. We're not keeping up," he said.
Discussing education, Carlson said spending has doubled
since 1970 but there has been no improvement in outcomes. He lamented low
graduation rates, particularly in the country's urban centers, and an
environment not conducive to effective learning in today's technological world.
"If the enemy did this to our children, we would go to war with them. And
we're doing it to ourselves," he said.
Students should be learning value creation and innovation
through experiential and project-based paradigms, he said. Once students learn
innovation skills, they can set themselves apart. "That's how valuable
these skills are. In a world that's changing rapidly, you don't want to be
dependent on some big company for your future," he said.
Despite the pitfalls, Carlson said opportunities to spark
American innovation abound. "New graduates are really lucky," he
said, "because every field you go into is ready now for transformation
after transformation and new technological opportunity."
Citing the growth of the Internet and the wave of
advancements in smart phones, tablet computers and other technological devices,
Carlson said computing power and capability is still in an early stage. He
predicted computers could have the processing power of human brains in 30 to 40
years. He also said the ability to communicate and collaborate, even among
people of different nationalities who speak different languages, is improving
in leaps and bounds. "There are billions of jobs that can be created in
the world we're in," he said.
But innovation won't happen overnight, or by luck. SRI's
culture is steeped in a model for innovation that has to be learned, Carlson
said. He added that, even at universities, there is confusion between inputs
and skills and real innovation. Innovation, he said, is creating products that
meet important customer or market needs.
Among new innovations at SRI, Carlson said, is a computer-based program to teach math five different ways. Results have been promising, he said, adding that the project is scalable, low cost and has potential to transform education.
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By Eric Gorton ('86, '09M)
March 14, 2013
