Globally respected NYT superbrain Tom Friedman has a new book out called "The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century." It's required reading for anyone who cares about innovation and America's standing in the new, global economy. The book shows real examples of how India, China and others have taken advantage of the massive spending during the Internet boom on networking, software and devices to "flatten" the world (or level the playing field.) One brief excerpt:
... therein lies a tale of technology and geoeconomics that is fundamentally reshaping our lives -- much, much more quickly than many people realize. It all happened while we were sleeping, or rather while we were focused on 9/11, the dot-com bust and Enron -- which even prompted some to wonder whether globalization was over. Actually, just the opposite was true, which is why it's time to wake up and prepare ourselves for this flat world, because others already are, and there is no time to waste.
More than anything, Friedman's book is a call to action. Now. No really. NOW.
A David Kirkpatrick Fortune intervew with John Chambers expounds...
Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers wants the U.S. to launch a moon-shot-scale effort to revamp our educational system. He told me this earlier this week... how the U.S. could lose its competitive edge if we don't do more to encourage young Americans to study engineering and science. Chambers had asked to weigh in after reading the columns. “We have to be realistic,” he says. “We’re losing the battle.”
This is why Chambers and other TechNet members are calling for policy makers to adopt its Innovation Policy Agenda. But, the group is also very open to new, innovative ideas. One comes from former House Speaker (and future Presidential candidate?) Newt Gingrich....
In Gingrich's book "Winning the Future" he makes the same bell-ringing warnings as Friedman, Chambers and TechNet. He also posits a tactic for beefing up young Americans' interest in taking math and science courses that has been refined and developed into new legislation. The Math & Science Incentive Act would, according to Scripps News...
...forgive the interest on student loans for science, math or engineering undergraduate students who agree to work five years in the field after graduation. Students could work in any position in their fields to meet the requirement.
Students who are eligible - undergraduates with one or more loans - would apply for reimbursement and be selected on their academic records or job performance and the likelihood they would remain in the field. A reimbursement cap would be set at $10,000.
Reps. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) and Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) introduced the student loan measure in the House, and Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) pledged to do the same in the Senate....
.... The issue has concerned Gingrich for several years. During the Clinton administration, he was involved in the bipartisan Hart-Rudman Commission, which projected that the greatest threat to America by 2025 is the detonation of a weapon of mass destruction.
Less noticed, Gingrich said, was what the commission concluded was the second-greatest threat: failure to remain competitive in math and science.
In the audio CD version of the book, "The World is Flat" the narrator mistakenly states that Vern Ehlers is from Missouri
Posted by: Sherry Boudrias | August 26, 2006 at 01:01 AM
Very informative blog.The book shows real examples of how India China and others have taken advantage of the massive spending during the Internet boom on networking.I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this post.
Posted by: Craigslist Garland | November 30, 2010 at 09:06 PM