Closing Critical Gaps from Lab to Market
Summary
Closing critical gaps across the interconnected ecosystem that supports discoveries in science and technology (S&T), developing discoveries into promising inventions, and commercializing inventions into thriving businesses should be of top priority for federal policymakers. In brief, intentional focus and dedicating resources to discovery and commercialization of inventions ensures that the United States maintains and expands its economic vitality, its global leadership in S&T innovation, and its strategic entrepreneurial advantages. This proposal presents a rationale and vision for the launch and deployment of a national plan—called Innovate the Future: The American Inventors Initiative—to provide comprehensive support and acceleration paths for postdoctoral researchers, early-stage entrepreneurs, and S&T investors, in order to advance domestic economic growth.
These ideas aim to advance the detailed policy solutions needed to foster public trust and implement fairness in the adoption of AI across diverse domains, from healthcare and government benefits to rural access, education, and worker protections.
The evidence is clear: algorithmic pay-setting is established in app-based work, and payroll/timekeeping failures show how software can produce systemic wage harm at scale
While a few states have taken steps to implement decision-making mechanisms for certain AI systems, too many leaders are simply accepting narratives about AI’s purported public benefit at face value – jumping to the “how” of AI implementation before thoroughly vetting potential systems and deciding whether they are appropriate to use at all.
When properly structured — with specific numeric targets, secured financial obligations, independent monitoring, and meaningful enforcement — CBAs transform data center deals into durable community partnerships.