Senators get competitiveness primer from software execs

U.S. senators sat down with more than a dozen software executives at the Business Software Alliance's (BSA) eighth annual CEO Forum in Washington in June to discuss top industry concerns and suggest priorities. Joining growing ranks of varied science and technology interests, the executives called for renewed emphasis on education to strengthen the country's competitive hand in a wired world.

The release of the BSA's Educating for the Future report on educational system change was central to the discussion, and the first in a series of planned Initiative for the Future reports concerning the health of U.S. education. Proposed topics in the series include challenges and opportunities facing innovation, intellectual property protection, cyber security and trade, and continued economic growth.

"The U.S. educational system does not match the needs of the global economy," says John Thompson, Symantec chairman and CEO. "It is a system of resources, manpower, and curriculum that was designed for the 20^th century—far different from the digitally connected world we live in today."

The Initiative for the Future report on education suggested these upgrades:

• Creation of an educational system aimed at lifelong learning;
• Emphasis that everyone become "IT literate," and possess other critical skills; and
• Modernization of the educational process to integrate and leverage the power of IT.

U.S. senators in attendance included Robert Bennett (R-UT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Michael Crapo (R-ID), and Gordon Smith (R-OR).