January 15, 2021
Council Statement on the Newly Announced Biden Science Team
WASHINGTON, DC, January 15, 2021 – The Council on Competitiveness applauds the nomination of Dr. Eric Lander to be Assistant to the President for Science & Technology and the next Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). We also commend the Biden-Harris Administration’s decision to elevate the position to the cabinet level. Responding to today’s hyper-complex and turbulent innovation environment, the federal government is elevating the innovation agenda to the highest levels of decision-making. Our nation will be more competitive because of it.
Reimagining, accelerating, and strategically coordinating America’s approach to science and technology will require a whole-of-nation approach, and establishing a single leadership structure for U.S. innovation and competitiveness is something the Council called for when it released its Competing in the Next Economy National Agenda on December 17, 2020. If well-funded and staffed, the role of OSTP will be critical in integrating policy development across federal departments and agencies, as well as building a national strategy for deploying the critical technologies that will shape the industries of the future, like advanced semiconductors, computing, biotechnology, and materials.
We look forward to Senate approval of Dr. Lander’s nomination in the coming weeks, and we look forward to supporting his efforts to address some our most significant challenges, including curbing the Covid-19 pandemic, creating a more innovative economy that works for every family, and building a strategy to develop and deploy the S&T base - including advanced microelectronics, advanced computing (supercomputing, quantum, artificial intelligence), biotechnology, advanced materials - that will shape the industries of the future, support national security and solve global grand challenges like climate change.
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]
