An Engine for Innovation
By Nicholas M. Donofrio
America simply will not prosper in the years ahead without a large, vibrant, contributing, innovating community of diverse technical talent.
Why? Because our nation is being challenged economically in a way we have never been challenged before. America’s very survival depends on our willingness to change, on our willingness to put muscle and innovative thinking behind our rhetoric, on our resolve to act swiftly and wisely to preserve our place in the world and to ensure a prosperous future for generations of Americans.
And that future depends mightily on the contributions put forth by the underrepresented minority community. It is our nation’s fastest-growing demographic group, and it is one in which talent — especially technical talent — has historically been underdeveloped, under-appreciated and underutilized.
That simply must change.
For much of the past century, the United States was the world’s innovation engine. No longer. The spotlight today is on China, India, Brazil, Russia, Finland, Israel and South Korea — places we paid little attention to a decade ago.
