... Six Recommendations to Accelerate Innovation, SMEs Competitiveness The six recommendation produced by the commission, part of a University of Virginia Miller Center series of reports on rebuilding the American Dream and sponsored by the Howard and Abby Milstein Foundation, include: 1.Talent investment loans to expand human capital – Government-backed talent investment loans will give SMEs the capital to hire the workers necessary to expand their businesses, as well as to up-skill these new and current employees. The commission said the loans should be guaranteed by the government, offer low, fixed interest rates and could offer a “one-year, interest-free grace period on loan payments so that savings can be directed toward growth activities.” 2. Upside-down degrees to connect classroom learning with on-the-job learning – Upside-down programs allow students to transfer accredited technical training, work experience, military training, or community college coursework as credit toward a bachelor’s degree. The commission said existing programs focus primarily on liberal arts and recommended that the concept be expanded to include business and engineering programs. 3. A skills census to build a more efficient skilled labor force – A regular survey of employers to determine current and projected skills needs – commissioned by state governments, with data freely available to the public – will allow businesses, policymakers, and educators to tailor their programs in real-time in order to forestall projected imbalances between skills and employer needs. The commission cited the success of Denmark’s Flexicurity program which regularly surveys employers to assess employment needs and then uses the research to tailor training programs. 4. A national supply chain initiative to fully map America’s manufacturing ecosystems – This will allow businesses and policymakers to cost-effectively fill gaps in the existing infrastructure and keep up with rapid changes around emerging technologies. Building a “reliable and fully mapped” supply chain, the report stated, could help “narrow the gap between small and large firms in productivity, input costs, process innovation, access to foreign markets, and other critical drivers of growth.” 5. Up-skilling high school students with expanded technology and engineering certification programs – All students should have the opportunity to acquire a certified technical skill before graduating high school. The commission said the program would be similar to advanced placement courses but allow students to “demonstrate proficiency in a skill area and transfer the vocational certification to an employer rather than an educational institution.” 6. A “big trends-small firms” initiative to diffuse the latest technologies to manufacturing SMEs – This initiative, implemented through the Commerce Department’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership, will connect small and medium-sized manufacturers with the latest innovations such as robotics and advanced IT systems, helping ensure that they remain competitive. « Six Ideas to Boost Manufacturing SMEs Competitiveness industryweek/competitiveness/six-ideas-boost-manufacturing-smes-competitiveness
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 08:24:25 +0000
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