News & Updates

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 […]

Overview With the United States facing unprecedented challenges at home and abroad—from economic inequality to geopolitical tension to climate change to energy and national security—innovative solutions are needed more than ever. Innovation can foster the development of sustainable technologies, create new economic opportunities, and promote collaborative solutions to global issues. But innovation is often an […]

On June 12, 2024, members of the Council on Competitiveness Board, Executive Committee, and National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers Commissioners met virtually to take stock of the Council’s 2024 work agenda to date, and to discuss the next steps across the Council’s policy and programs portfolio leading up to the December 2-3, 2024, […]