Unleashing American Innovation Symposium

On April 19, 2018, thought leaders from across government, industry and academia gathered in Washington, D.C., to discuss how we can work together to address systemic barriers to catalyze the full potential of American innovation. The United States invests about $150 billion each year on federal R&D, but are the American taxpayers reaping the full benefit of that investment?

The Unleashing American Innovation Symposium was about highlighting the nation’s journey to a new level of innovation performance. This path will seek the best models and approaches for converting the results of federally funded R&D and intellectual property into new companies and jobs as well as entirely new industries that bring new products, technologies and better healthcare to the American people. The symposium also explored barriers that limit industry’s access to federal R&D and ways to maximize the economic, security and societal benefits to the nation.

Opening Remarks and Session 1: Federal Perspectives

Unleashing American Innovation - Part 1

Opening Remarks

• Welcome and Introduction:  Honorable Dr. Walter G. Copan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology, “Unleashing American Innovation”

• Opening Address: Honorable Wilbur L. Ross, Secretary of Commerce, “Accelerating American Leadership”

• Leadership Perspective:  Honorable Margaret Weichert, Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget, “The President’s Management Agenda”

• U.S. Innovation:  Michael Kratsios, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer, “Cross Agency Priority: From Lab-to Market”

Session 1:  Federal Perspectives

Moderated by Michael Kratsios, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer

Panelists:

• Honorable Dr. Walter Copan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, and Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology, “Innovation: Return on Investment (ROI)”

• Honorable Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, “U.S. Innovation and Intellectual Property”
• Honorable Dr. France Córdova, Director, National Science Foundation, “Convergence Accelerators: A New Model for Research to Innovation”
• Dr. Christopher Austin, Director, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, “Innovation for Healthcare”

Session 2: University Perspectives

Unleashing American Innovation - Part 2

Moderated by Honorable Dr. Marcia McNutt, President, National Academy of Sciences, Introductory Remarks

Panelists:

• Dr. Mark Kamlet, University Professor of Economics and Public Policy and Provost Emeritus, Carnegie Mellon University, “Managing University Intellectual Property in the Public Interest”

• Dr. Paul Sanberg, President, National Academy of Inventors; Senior VP for Research, Innovation, and Knowledge Enterprise and Distinguished University Professor, University of South Florida

• Honorable Peter McPherson, President, Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities

• Dr. Stephen Susalka, Chief Executive Officer, Association of University Technology Managers

Session 3: Industry Perspectives

Unleashing American Innovation - Part 3

Moderated by Katharine Ku, Executive Director, Office of Technology Licensing, Stanford University

Panelists:

• Honorable Deborah Wince-Smith, President and CEO, Council on Competitiveness

• William Elkington, President and Chair, Licensing Executives Society

• Patrick Kilbride, Vice President, Global Innovation Policy Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce