News & Updates

Overview While many people and organizations have the goal to assist economically distressed areas, especially rural ones, far fewer know how to do so. This talk explored how a range of stakeholders can work together to uplift rural communities—with understanding and empathy. Key Session Insights As the Founding Director of the Center for Rural Innovation […]

Overview Nuclear power, while becoming a significant part of the nation’s energy mix, has never supplied the plurality of the country’s electricity. Today, however, as the need for clean, abundant energy becomes sharper than ever, nuclear power is getting a second look. The potential for the nuclear energy is great. But, as this Tech Talk […]

Overview Perhaps no industry underpins the U.S. economy more critically than the energy sector. Keeping Tennessee, and the rest of the country, powered will be a crucial challenge, especially as demand surges and legacy fossil fuel plants phase out in favor of a lower-carbon energy mix. Led by Chad Holliday and consisting of participants across […]

Overview Chancellor Donde Plowman opened the second day of the inaugural "Competitiveness Conversations Across America" with a compelling vision for the future. Addressing a gathering ripe with potential collaborators, Plowman highlighted the significance of place in cultivating an innovation ecosystem. "Place makes a difference," she affirmed, emphasizing the transformative synergy of people and partnerships in […]

Overview United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) was introduced and welcomed by Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier at the Competitiveness Conversation Dinner. For his keynote address, the senator focused his remarks on how America and Tennessee can realize their economic potential by taking advantage of their distinctive competitive advantages and unleashing the competitive and entrepreneurial spirit.  […]

Overview The future of innovation will rely increasingly on integrated, multidisciplinary, and multidomain partnerships that span and connect research, development, and deployment of new technologies at scale. In this panel, leaders across academia, government, and business discuss how to build innovation ecosystems that support the technologies of today and the industries of the future. Key […]

Overview Dr. Kate Evans of Oak Ridge National Laboratory gave a crash course of quantum sciences—and potential impacts the domain may have on U.S. innovation and competitiveness. Key Session Insights Using quantum mechanics in computing can greatly increase the efficiency of computer processes. In traditional computing, to find the most efficient process, the computer must […]

Overview While being caught in traffic may feel like an inconvenience to you, the cumulative cost on the economy is massive. A study by mobility analytics company Inrix found that Americans lost a total of 51 hours, and traffic congestion cost the United States more than $81 billion in 2021. Considering the high cost of […]

Overview As competition in the global innovation landscape intensifies, there is a growing urgency to capitalize on untapped talent, technology, investment, and infrastructure. To boost competitiveness, the United States—and Tennessee—must focus on expanding and deepening both the demography and the geography of innovation, meaningfully engaging different communities and diverse populations as workers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and […]

Overview What are the key factors to building an innovative economy? Kicking off the Tennessee Competitiveness Conversation, global business leaders with major operations in Tennessee explored the key pillars of innovation as articulated in the Council’s “National Commission on Innovation & Competitiveness Frontiers”—highlighting both key challenges and opportunities for Tennessee, particularly within the automotive and […]