One result of outsourcing is a loss of ability to understand new technologies on a basic level because they are not on the factory floor. From understanding comes opportunity. In response to IP and product piracy and the hypercom-petitive marketplace in technology, many smart companies now involve only their closest partners in research and development programs. Those not a part of the group may never see new enabling technologies. This is what has happened to North America and Europe to a dangerous degree. Today, in many cases, management, government, the military and even the scientific community do not understand the enabling technologies that can help spur a new economic renaissance. While focusing on nanotechnology, biotech or energy on a micro scale, we have lost the ability to make it simpler, more efficient and lower cost. This mistake has been repeated to the point it almost has become a maxim. Whether televisions, VCRs or cellphones, the business model in many cases has been technology development in Europe or North America, followed by exporting of manufacturing to lower cost regions. The West needs a healthy manufacturing sector to survive, and the interconnect is at the center of that capability.
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