How to encourage the next great U.S. innovations

To grow, the nation must innovate — but how? Post readers share their vision and ideas.

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Be continually dynamic

"To think that what is taught today is tangible tomorrow is foolish. We need to be able to pick up any type of available technology or format immediately. The Internet's resources are proliferating at a rate never seen before its advent. We need the ability to analyze and correlate this information to actual life-related applications." -- ScottEdTech

Paul Sakuma / AP

Make businesses more efficent

"At almost any level of business, faster and cheaper fulfillment spells efficiency; even if early adopters experience only a 10% improvement at first, over the course of a year one more person could be employed, or the business expanded modestly, without pressure on prices. " -- UbiquitousMarketS

Lynne Sladky / AP

Empower local communities

"Provide mechanisms and incentives to communities that allow them to reduce or terminate government services. One example would be a means for a local community to determine that a portion of its area might not need waste service, road repair, etc." -- chase.rowan

Steven Senne / AP

Change immigration policy

"Provide green cards to foreign students earning graduate STEM degrees so they can create jobs in the U.S., not overseas. Second, create a visa for entrepreneurs -- and if their business succeeds, they should get a green card. America cannot afford to wait." -- John Feinblatt

Gene J. Puskar / AP

Support everyday innovation

"The public sector is increasingly facing fiscally austere budgets. We need to encourage and reward the creative thinking among public managers and everyday civil servants. But they must first be empowered by us, the taxpayers." -- Ash Roughani

POOL / REUTERS

Encourage competition

"Only two systems have spurred innovation consistently: (1) cash prizes/competitions for specific innovations and (2) actual templates that motivate not only good ideas but a process for road-testing the idea." -- millerandrewj

ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Listen to new ideas

"Large businesses are often the worst innovators because they have the most experts, who already know what is right. That's why most successful innovations come from start-ups and small companies not inhibited by that limitation." -- Larry MacDonald

Jeffrey MacMillan / JEFFREY MACMILLAN

Share ideas

"It may seem counterintuitive, but eliminating the ability of companies to 'protect' their so-called 'intellectual property' will actually promote innovation. Those innovating won't feel frustrated by having to overcome legal barriers. Eliminate barriers and innovation will flower." -- SteveR1

JO YONG-HAK / REUTERS

Pay it forward

"Collaborate with successful innovators in a new foundation to provide legal, financial & expert assistance to underfunded inventors when they are faced with infringement." -- momshugs

Nati Harnik / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Give innovators the microphone

"Have a page on your Web site and in print, in The Washington Post specifically for American innovations that can be sourced, manufactured and assembled in the USA which can be sold world wide. Give them the spotlight. Give them the microphone. Focus on them and ask others to pay attention." -- rexsolomon

Charles Dharapak / AP

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

epa03714567 A Thai Buddhist family take an offering of lotus flowers to pay respects to a giant Buddha surrounded by more than 1,000 smaller Buddha statues at a Buddhism Park, on Vesak or Visakha Bucha day, in Nakhon Nayok, north of Bangkok, Thailand, 24 May 2013. Buddhist devotees throughout the world offer blessings at temples to mark one of the holiest days in Buddhism, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and the death of Buddha. EPA/BARBARA WALTON

Photos of the day

Buddhist Wesak festival, prisoners-of-war reunion, bridge collapse, world’s largest Lego model and more.

A portion of the Interstate 5 bridge is submerged after it collapsed into the Skagit River dumping vehicles and people into the water in Mount Vernon, Wash., Thursday, May 23, 2013 according to the Washington State Patrol. (AP Photo/Skagit Valley Herald, Frank Varga)

I-5 bridge collapse in Washington state dumps vehicles, passengers into river

No fatalities reported; collapse over Skagit River shuts down main route between Seattle and Canada.

SILVER SPRING MD: MAY 18
from left to right, Bodybuilders Jorge Villatoro, Sidney Bumbrey, Eric Holmes and Ron Coleman show off their most muscular poses for the judges at the 2013 Musclemania - Capital Tournament of Champions Contest held at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center in Silver Spring, Maryland on May 18, 2013.
(Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Flexing their muscles

Dozens of bodybuilders came out to Silver Spring to compete in the 2013 Musclemania Capital Tournament of Champions.

epa03714543 US actress Carmen Electra arrives for the Life Ball gala, at the airport Schwechat, in Vienna, Austria, 24 May 2013. The 21th Life Ball, an annual fundraising charity event for HIV and Aids projects, takes place at the Vienna City-Hall on 25 May 2013. EPA/HERBERT NEUBAUER

Eye on entertainment

Carmen Electra, Barbara Eden, Sharon Stone, Goldie Hawn, Jaden Smith and more.

A police forensics officer investigates a crime scene where one man was killed in Woolwich, southeast London May 22, 2013. British Prime Minister David Cameron has called a meeting of his government's emergency Cobra security committee after the killing of a man in south London, his office said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth (BRITAIN - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Terrorism cited in London cleaver attack

Two assailants hacked to death a British soldier on a busy southeast London neighborhood street Wednesday afternoon before delivering an apparent...

MOORE, OK - MAY 24: A 'For Sale' sign hangs in a tree in a storm ravaged neighborhood on May 24, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma. The tornado of EF5 strength and two miles wide touched down May 20 killing at least 24 people and leaving behind extensive damage to homes and businesses. U.S. President Barack Obama promised federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Assessing tornado damage in Oklahoma

Amid great destruction, residents of the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore begin to assess the severity of the twister that hit Monday.

WASHINGTON DC: MAY 22
Contestant Travis Rumans, 31 dances with his beloved glow sticks for talent at Penn Social in Washington, DC on May 22, 2013. The contestants help raise over $15,000 for the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
The Mr. DC pageant is a fundraising event to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
The qualifications for the Mr. District of Columbia finalists is that they must live, work and attend school in the District of Columbia between the ages of 21-30 who are unmarried, intelligent, and dapper in a suit.
(Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Mr. D.C. Pageant contestants compete for charity

Contestants in the Mr. D.C. Pageant, a fundraising event, helped raise more than $15,000 for the Children’s National Medical Center.

A Burrowing owl tries to perch on a protective rope in a public park in Cooper City, Fla. Monday, May 20, 2013 as rain falls. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

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