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285791607
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Industry - Technology Initiative [1992]
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285791607
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Industry - Technology Initiative [1992]
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Records pertain to the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
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Records of the White House Office of Science and Technology (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Allan D. Bromley Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s): FOIA Number: 2005-0336-F 2005-0336-F FOIA MARKER This is not a textual record. This is used as an administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential Library Staff. Record Group/Collection: George H.W. Bush Presidential Records Collection/Office of Origin: Science and Technology Policy, Office of (OSTP) Series: Bromley, D. Allan, Files Subseries: General Science Files OA/ID Number: 62037 Folder ID Number: 62037-011 Folder Title: Industry - Technology Initiative [1992] Stack: Row: Section: Shelf: Position: 0 0 0 O THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON February 24, 1992 MEMORANDUM FOR HENSON MOORE FROM: D. ALLAN BROMLEY /s/ SUBJECT: A POSSIBLE EXPANDED NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE We have discussed the possibility of expanding upon the already successful National Technology initiative that was kicked off recently at MIT and which focuses primarily on the question of technology transfer from the national laboratories to the private sector. You have requested that I provide you with additional detail on one of the suggested elements in this expansion and I am attempting to do so in this memorandum. Before turning to that, however, let me simply reemphasize a few of the reasons why I believe that the expansion is desirable and timely. 0 There is a growing perception, both within the business community and among the voting public, that the Bush Administration has no adequate, coherent policy for insuring our increased economic competitiveness in the world market place. o Democratic members of the Congress have made it clear that they intend to make technology and its utilization toward economic competitiveness a major issue in the current election campaign. It also bears noting that they have initiated a number of pieces of technology legislation intended to establish Democratic leadership in this area. 0 In contrast to the situation in our major foreign competitor nations, where the industrial sector looks on the government as a definite ally in addressing the world market, in the United States, at best, government is looked on as neutral and, in many cases, as antagonistic. o Polls have shown that at least until very recently more than 50% of the American public was not really convinced that we had a competitiveness problem or, indeed, that technology was in any obvious way an answer to competitiveness problems. 2 0 The Bush Administration and the President have a record of which we can be proud -- but we have been less successful than we should have been in letting the public know about our accomplishments. o There are a substantial number of changes that could be made through administrative channels -- without requiring legislative action -- that could have a significant impact on our industrial sector and, of course, many others that would require legislative action that could have major impact. It seems to me that a key element in any proposed expanded National Technology Initiative is the personal participation of the President. We have the rather dramatic example of the President's activities in the education field where, through the Education Summit which he hosted in 1989, he changed the entire public perception of education as well as the environment within which educational change not only became possible but increasingly is being pushed by an aroused public. I believe that the President can have a similar impact on technology and its potential contributions both to the competitiveness of American industry and to improvement of the quality of life of all our citizens. I have provided you with a skeletal proposal for implementation of an expanded National Technology Initiative building upon the existing tech transfer activities spearheaded by the Departments of Commerce and of Energy. My earlier memorandum lists a number of component elements of the expanded program but it is clear that other individuals and agencies will have additional ideas and it is essential that any such activity be a broadly cooperative one that draws on the best insight that we can gain from the entire Administration and, indeed, from industry. Among the elements that I have suggested to you are the following: 0 Strengthening the current National Technology Initiative regional meetings focussing on technology transfer and the roles of the more than 700 national laboratories and their personnel in such transfer. o Pulling together a coherent package of tax and regulatory changes that will improve the financial and regulatory climate in which the private sector operates. 0 Building on the interagency (FCCSET) technology initiatives in the President's 1993 budget with specific attention to the involvement of the private sector. 3 0 Increasing the focus on partnership activities involving the private sector, Federal Government, and where appropriate, universities. We have now something like 700 Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) as well as some very successful consortia including Semitech in the semiconductor sector, and the Battery Consortium and the Advanced Composite Consortium in the automotive sector. 0 Developing a package specifically designed to minimize or remove impediments to the growth of small (less than 500 employees) businesses (both low and high technology) with their characteristically high job creation and innovation rates. 0 Developing a series of technology-centered events for the President, Vice President, and Cabinet members throughout the Nation. OSTP will be happy to work other agencies in the identification and development of such events and I shall be sending you separate memoranda on this topic. 0 Holding a very high visibility Presidential event here in Washington to highlight the Bush Administration's interest in, programs for, and intent to working with the private sector to utilize technology for a more productive America. Let me then focus on this latter event which you asked me to expand for further discussion. I would suggest strongly that if we decide to move forward with this event, then the President should announce it as soon as possible and hold it perhaps in July to give us time to make the necessary arrangements and yet have it sufficiently far in advance of the election so that it is not politicized more than will inevitably be the case. TENTATIVE PROPOSAL TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT Technology for a Productive America Time: July 1992 Duration: Start with a Presidential reception on say a Monday evening, followed by sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, finishing at about 3:00 pm on Wednesday to allow attendees to catch convenient flights out of Washington. Attendees: CEOs, presidents, chief financial officers, chief R&D officers, and selected labor leaders from a representative cross-section of US industry ranging all the way from low technology, large smokestack industries, to the highest possible technology, small entrepreneurial companies. The President, the Vice President, Cabinet members, heads of the independent agencies, and Senior Executive Office of the President members. {Query: I would propose that we try to keep this entire event non-partisan and Presidential in scope and have thus not included any representation from the Congress. You have a much better sense of whether this is on the right track or not.} Program: Monday evening: White House reception for all participants hosted by the President. Tuesday morning: A plenary session a) A Presidential address setting forth a sense of the National challenge and some of the goals for the Summit. b) An address by the Secretary of Commerce. c) An address by the Secretary of Labor. d) An address by the Secretary of the Treasury. Luncheon: An address by Greenspan of the Federal Reserve?? 2 Tuesday afternoon: I would suggest here breakout sessions with rapporteur and co-chairmen. One drawn from industry and one from government -- who will be collectively responsible for condensing the discussions so that their epitome can be be merged into the President's closing remarks as well as provide input for closing remarks by the industrial co-chairmen on Wednesday afternoon. Breakout A: The President and selected Cabinet members meet with CEOs and senior labor leaders. Breakout B: The Vice President and selected Cabinet members meet with presidents and COOs. Breakout C: The Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the CEA, the Chairman of the SEC and the Chairman of the SBA meet with chief financial officers. Breakout D: The Directors of NSF, NIH, and OSTP and the senior R&D representatives from DOE, DOC, DOD, NASA, etc., meet with the chief technology officers from the private sector. Tuesday evening: Summit banquet. I would suggest George Fisher as CEO of Motorola and Chairman of the Private Sector Competitiveness Council as the after dinner speaker. Overnight the rapporteur and the breakout co-chairmen would be expected to prepare draft reports based on their afternoon sessions. These draft reports would then serve as the basis for further discussion and fine-tuning in the Wednesday morning continuation of these breakout sessions. Wednesday: Continue breakout sessions but here I would suggest that rather than remaining with Breakout A, the President should rotate and spend some time with each of the Breakout groups just to get a sense of the discussion and to give them the additional Presidential contact. Luncheon: An address by the Vice President as Chairman of the President's Competitive Council?? Wednesday afternoon: Concluding session (a) reports by the industrial co- chairmen of each of the four Breakout sessions, (b) 15 to 20 minute coffee break, (c) concluding summary synthesis and call to arms by the President. This will raw on the material from the Breakouts and will highlight whatever appears appropriate. Obviously this represents only a personal first-off-the-top-of-the-head outline of what such an event might comprise. It will be essential to get the input of many other people and I shall be more than happy to work with all of them so that we can come up with something that will be truly Presidential in scope as well as something that can have a major catalytic impact on our utilization of our technology to create a truly more productive America. THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON January 8, 1992 at Bessin MEMORANDUM FOR EDE HOLIDAY D. ALLAN BROMLEY FROM KATHY SUPER K. Super Mean. DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR APPOINTMENTS AND SCHEDULING SUBJECT NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE I would appreciate your evaluation and comments on the attached for the President's participation. Is this a worthwhile event that would merit the President attending? ASAP please Called her AM DCF RIMENT OF ENERGY. The Deputy Secretary of Energy 1/3 VOICIWE Washington, DC 20585 STATES OF January 2, 1992 SKS- envelope sel MEMORANDUM FOR THE CHIEF OF STAFF SUBJECT: Kick-off of National Technology Initiative in Cambridge, MA on January 30 fill As you may know, Secretary Mosbacher and Secretary Watkins have been developing plans for a National Technology Initiative (NTI) to help American businesses compete more effectively around the world and to create good jobs here at home. Admiral Truly of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has agreed to participate. We also hope to get the Department of Defense involved. The NTI will consist of a series of 10 "town meeting" seminars, held across the country, to open up a dialogue between business, university, and government leaders on how we can work together better to advance U.S. economic interests. A focus of these seminars will be how U.S. industry can benefit from taxpayer investments in R&D at our national labs and universities. This series will parallel the very successful National Export Initiative led by the Department of Commerce last year, and will involve several Federal agencies. The first meeting is tentatively scheduled for January 29-30, 1992, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has offered its facilities and its people to help coordinate this event. More importantly, MIT will also use its contacts with regional, high technology businesses and the Harvard Graduate School of Business to pull together a group of approximately 250 senior executives from business in the northeast region. We are also getting a great deal of support from several industry associations to help us make this first seminar a huge success. We are very excited about the seminar series, and we would like to make the first seminar the model for the ones that follow. Secretary Watkins, Acting Secretary Schnabel and Administrator Truly have committed to attend. We believe this seminar presents a great opportunity for the President or the Vice President to highlight this Administration's program to create jobs and economic growth. Options for participation range from keynote speaker at the luncheon on January 30, 1992, to a speech at any time during the day. Our flexibility in pulling the seminar forward in time is limited at this point, although we may be able to move it to January 28-29. We can, of course, move the seminar later in time, should you desire. The next event is tentatively scheduled for the week of February 17, 1992, in Austin, Texas. We have attached a copy of the draft agenda for your information. We are in the process of filling out the slate of panel members to lead the discussions with the participants. In order to be sure that the seminar is a success, we need to finalize the dates very soon. Please let me know as soon as possible if this event would be of interest to the President or Vice President and how we should proceed with scheduling. With kindest personal regards, we remain Sincerely yours Husn Roch Rockwell A. Schnabel W. Henson Moore DRAFT: January 2, 1992 Partners in Progress: A Dialogue Opportunities for Commercialization of Technologies in the Boston Region Agency Participants: DOC, DOE, NASA, DOD (tentative) Site: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Participants: Senior Government Officials, CEOs, Corporate Officers, Corporate Strategic Planners Objective: To provide information, tools, and contact points to industry in support of effective leveraging of federal research and development for enhancing U. S. competitiveness Format: In the plenary session approximately half the time will be devoted to providing information to the participants and the remaining time will be spent in a dialogue. Participants are requested to submit specific items for consideration on the attached index cards. Index cards will also be available during the conference as a means to entering items into the discussions. Wednesday, January 29, 1992 5:30 - 7:30 pm Laboratory "Technology Fair" (Tentative) 6:30 - 7:30 pm Industry Reception - Sponsored by local industry association. Thursday, January 30, 1992 7:00 - 8:00 am Continental Breakfast & Registration 8:00 - - 8:45 am Welcome and Introduction of Cabinet Members by Governor Weld Overview: Cabinet Members (e.g., DOC, DOE, NASA, DOD (tentative)) DRAFT: January 2, 1992 -2- 8:45 - 10:15 am Partnerships for Cooperative R&D Overview of mechanisms for strategic partnering, such as: consortia, CRADAs, patent licensing, etc. Proposed panel consisting of a local Federal laboratory director (s), CEO of high-tech firm, and head of industry consortium 10:15 - 10:30 am Break for Coffee 10:30 - 12:00 pm Partnerships for Long-term Investment and Financing Overview of public, private and institutional sources of investment capital and corporate finance. Proposed panel consisting of a senior federal official from the region, a successfully financed local entrepreneur, a large local company CEO, and several financial managers (e.g., banker, broker, and pension fund manager) 12:00 - 1:30 pm Luncheon Speaker to be determined 1:30 - 2:45 pm Partnerships for Manufacturing Excellence Examples of the successful management of change, assimilation of advanced manufacturing tools and techniques, leveraging of federal capabilities by non-federal organizations, and lessons learned. Proposed Panel consisting of representatives of Federal laboratories, successful manufacturing companies and labor interests. 2:45 - 3:00 pm Break for Coffee (and Networking) DRAFT: January 2, 1992 -3- 3:00 - 5:00 pm Concurrent Workshop Series Conference attendees will be able to pick two out of three. To be chaired by appropriate government and private sector leaders. 3:00-4:00 p.m. WORKSHOP SERIES 1 Workshop la - Protecting Intellectual Property Rights and Technical Data in Technology Commercialization Partnerships Practical examination of federal patent policy, licensing procedures, copyright of software and other works, maskworks, proprietary data and trade secret protection, CRADA generated information and other tools for effective commercialization. Workshop 1b - Partnerships for Biotechnology Practical examination of commercially attractive biotechnology research underway at DOD, DOE and EPA laboratories and funded universities. Workshop 1c - Partnering for Manufacturing Excellence Practical examination on the issues related to successfully managing change, modifying culture, and measuring success against a business strategy designed to leverage federal research and development and increase utilization of advanced manufacturing capabilities. 4:00 - 5:00 pm WORKSHOP SERIES 2 Workshop 2a - Environmental Technology Partnerships Practical examination of commercially attractive environmental research underway in the DOE, DOD, DOT, EPA labs and funded universities. DRAFT: January 2, 1992 -4- Workshop 2b - Financing of Partnerships for Technology Commercialization Practical examination of SBA support for small businesses, State Economic Development Programs, SBIR, venture capital, joint ventures and cost-shared development for commercialization of technology. Workshop 2c - Partnering for Manufacturing Excellence Practical examination on the issues related to successfully managing change, modifying culture, and measuring success against a business strategy designed to leverage federal research and development and increase utilization of advanced manufacturing capabilities. 5:00 pm Conference Adjourns