The Competition for Innovation

Dr. Adam Segal, the Ira A. Lipman Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, claims that the United States have no need to worry about the threat of China surpassing us in the field of innovation. Segal brings up points including the fact that China’s main focus in the coming years will not be on Innovation, but rather Research and Development, as well as filing patents. A point to support this conclusion is the state’s want to shy away from reliance on other nations. This leads to the need to copy available technology instead of creating something new, innovating. Many of the patents are made simply in an attempt to sue later when someone has a similar idea in the future instead of innovative ideas. Segal argues that on the other side of the fence, the United States values “openness” and that is one of the great advantages that we have over the Chinese as far as innovation because of our ability to get ideas across a wider variety of cultures, time, and distance. Some of Segal’s points for improving the U.S.’s chance at remaining the top dog for innovation include the need to find an easier way highly skilled immigrants can become citizens, remain open to cash flow from foreign investments, the skills of scientists must be broadened. I think that Segal has a point, that it would be tough to try to compete in a game where sheer numbers would be an advantage so the idea to rely on cultural and social differences to create innovation sounds like an area we would have the upper hand. China’s political structure seems to be a rather large hindrance on the creativity as well as funding side as far as development. I found it ironic that the state’s dislike of using foreign technology in turn caused the researchers to need to use old technology instead of move on and innovate. As it is, I see China as mainly a nation of manufacturers, not a place where new technology is developed. Adam Segal seems to know what he is talking about, he is certainly in a position to find the statistics more easily than the average person. You can find Adam Segal’s article here: http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/10/why-american-innovation-will-beat-out-china/