Making Value for America: Embracing the Future of Manufacturing, Technology, and Work

The Committee on Foundational Best Practices for Making Value for America, part of the National Academy of Engineering, has released a report that presents a roadmap to enhance the nation's capacity to pursue opportunities and adapt to transforming value chains by widespread adoption of best practices, a well-prepared and innovative workforce, local innovation networks to support startups and new products, improved flow of capital investments, and infrastructure upgrades.

According to the committee that produced the report, U.S. infrastructure must be upgraded, for both traditional systems—such as electricity and ports—and modern information systems. A world-leading infrastructure will attract businesses and facilitate the creation of new ones in the United States. Globalization, developments in technology, and new business models are transforming the way products and services are conceived, designed, made, and distributed in the U.S. and around the world. These forces present challenges - lower wages and fewer jobs for a growing fraction of middle-class workers - as well as opportunities for "makers" and aspiring entrepreneurs to create entirely new types of businesses and jobs.

Making Value for America examines these challenges and opportunities and offers recommendations for collaborative actions between government, industry, and education institutions to help ensure that the U.S. thrives amid global economic changes and remains a leading environment for innovation.

TRB is a division of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.