ITIF Welcomes Newest Manufacturing Innovation Institute and Urges Further Expansion

WASHINGTON—The Obama Administration announced today the latest Manufacturing Innovation Institute, a public-private effort aimed at restoring U.S. leadership in advanced manufacturing. Joining the six other institutes as part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), the new institute will be dedicated to flexible hybrid electronics. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has long advocated for improving America’s innovation infrastructure with partnerships like these between government, industry, and academia.

“We gladly welcome the addition of another manufacturing institute,” said Robert Atkinson, president and founder of ITIF. “This network has been the best addition to America’s innovation ecosystem in the past 30 years. Continuing to expand it will build on that momentum by creating more technical capacity and research infrastructure. Those are the foundations that will lead to new processes and products to keep U.S. manufacturers at the cutting edge.”

ITIF released a paper earlier this week arguing that the U.S. manufacturing sector has barely recovered from the Great Recession and needs more supportive policies from the federal government.

“It should be clear to everyone that U.S. manufacturing is still suffering in the wake of the recession. Without a strong manufacturing sector, the U.S. economy as a whole will also continue to struggle. Forward-looking ideas like these institutes are essential to revitalizing the manufacturing sector. But we need to push even further if we want to compete globally. Germany has 70 institutes in its manufacturing network, for example. Congress should make President Obama’s vision of at least 45 manufacturing institutes a reality so America can lead again in manufacturing excellence,” concluded Atkinson.