October 2, 2020

New Council on Competitiveness Report Makes Business Case for Greater Resilience in the Age of COVID-19

Global leaders from business, academia and the national labs argue for making organizational resilience a cornerstone of competitiveness.

WASHINGTON, DC, October 2, 2020 – Today, the Council on Competitiveness is publicly releasing Transform2020: Resilience in the Age of COVID-19— an important update to Transform, one of the Council's seminal reports written more than a decade ago. Since Transform's original publishing, the nomenclature of resilience has become commonplace, yet the decimating impact of the COVID-19 virus on the U.S. economy and the lack of preparedness by the public and private sectors show the report's warnings and recommendations remain incredibly relevant.

The update Transform2020 report is being released in the hope that the country can refocus on resiliency, so that the standard against which future crises are measured is not how long the economy has to be shut down, but whether a shutdown is necessary. Readers of Transform2020 will understand that when done right, resilience can allow organizations and governments to focus on responding to any crisis, not be controlled by it.

"Organizational resilience must become a cornerstone of U.S. competitiveness," said Deborah Wince-Smith, president and CEO of the Council on Competitiveness. "Resilience is becoming increasingly important in a global economy characterized by uncertainty, complexity, connectivity and speed. To prosper today, nations, businesses and organizations must have the capability to survive, adapt, evolve and grow in the face of change."

Key takeaways from Transform2020:

· The national objective is not just homeland protection, but economic resilience—the ability to mitigate and recover quickly from disruption.

· There are an infinite number of disruption scenarios, but only a finite number of outcomes. Leading organizations do not manage specific scenarios, rather they create the agility and flexibility to cope with turbulent situations.

· Businesses must root the case for investment in resilience strategies to manage a spectrum of risks, not just catastrophic ones. The investments and contingency plans leading companies make to manage a spectrum of risk create a capability to respond to high-impact disasters as well.

Download Transform2020 here.

Global Experts and Members of the Council Lead Transform2020 Online Discussion with IndustryWeek

On Tuesday, September 29, more than 220 leaders from around the world participated in a panel discussion sponsored by the Council of Competitiveness in partnership with IndustryWeek. The online event focused on organizational resilience and included five featured speakers from Council on Competitiveness' National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers, including:

The Honorable Deborah Wince Smith, President & CEO, Council on CompetitivenessMr. Chad Holliday, Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell; National Commissioner and Chairman Emeritus, Council on CompetitivenessMs. Janet Foutty, Chair of the Board, Deloitte; National Commissioner and Executive Committee Member, Council on CompetitivenessDr. Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University; Co-Chair, National Commission, and University Vice-chair, Council on CompetitivenessDr. Thomas Zacharia, Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Co-Chair, National Commission, Council on Competitiveness

Representing business, academia and the national labs, these global experts offered both historical perspectives on the critical role resilience plays in U.S. competitiveness, as well as real-time commentary on COVID-19 impacts and implications for short- and long-term economic growth, and institutional viability.

The full discussion is available to view here.

About the Council on Competitiveness

For more than three decades, the Council on Competitiveness (Council) has championed a competitiveness agenda for the United States to attract investment and talent and spur the commercialization of new ideas. While the players may have changed since its founding in 1986, the mission remains as vital as ever—to enhance U.S. productivity and raise the standard of living for all Americans.

The members of the Council — CEOs, university presidents, labor leaders and national lab directors—represent a powerful, nonpartisan voice that sets aside politics and seeks results. By providing real-world perspective to policymakers, the Council's private sector network makes an impact on decision-making across a broad spectrum of issues — from the cutting- edge of science and technology, to the democratization of innovation, to the shift from energy weakness to strength that supports the growing renaissance in U.S. manufacturing. The Council firmly believes that with the right policies, the strengths and potential of the U.S. economy far outweigh the current challenges the nation faces on the path to higher growth and greater opportunity for all Americans.

Media Contact, Council on Competitiveness, (202) 603-3739, [email protected]