Companies hoping to capitalize on future advances in science and technology better learn how to leverage human intellect on multiple continents, according to a Silicon Valley CEO writing in Chief Executive Magazine. Michael Klayko, CEO of Brocade Communications Systems, a $1.2 billion data networking supplier, points out that R&D employment outside the U.S. by U.S. firms has increased by 76% while 25% of U.S. science and technology workers are foreign born.
“Engineering has become the great equalizer of our time,” Klayko advised. He explained that countries have become interdependent just as major inventions have permeated across boarders.
Klayko contends that the responsibility for training and developing the next generation of scientists is shared by parents, businesses, and governments. Parents, he writes, can influence children to think globally, without bias, in an environment that encourages problem solving.
He recommends these initiatives: as much training, time and money should go into raising awareness of math and science as is devoted to athletics and extracurricular activities: corporations and educational institutions should become partners by sharing real-life, timely problems with today’s university students.
Finally, Klayko cautions that these initiatives are especially important to the U.S. in order to maintain our technological edge.