AeA FLORIDA SUMMIT ON COMPETITIVENESS - JUNE 2, 2006

As part of AeA's National efforts to alert audiences that America’s edge, particularly in science and technology, is increasingly at risk, the AeA Florida Council hosted the Florida Summit on Competitiveness. Our purpose was to bring technology company senior executives, university presidents, legislators, school superintendents and economic development officials together to define an agenda for change to secure and improve Florida's role in the US technology industry's global competitiveness.

Technology company executives, university presidents, and economic development officials gathered at the Disney/ SBA National Entrepreneur Center in downtown Orlando to discuss the growing challenges faced by the high tech industry. The event was broken down into a morning and afternoon session:

Morning Session - Outlining the Issues

Dr. Mark Rosenberg, Chancellor, Florida University System started the day with a discussion on the challenges facing Florida's University System. View Dr. Rosenberg's Presentation

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Maryann Fiala, Executive Director, AeA Florida Council discussed the AeA report:

	Losing the Competitive Advantage? The Challenge for Science and Technology in the United States This report explores the challenges the United States currently faces and, in many ways, is ignoring at its peril. The purpose of this report is to alert audiences that America’s edge, particularly in science and technology, is increasingly at risk.
View Maryann's Presentation This presentation includes information from both the above report as well as the:
	AeA 2006 Cyberstates Report. This report provides 2005 national tech trends on employment, exports, and venture capital investments. The latest data on state employment, wages, establishments, payroll, and research and development are also examined.
Overview of AeA's National Competitiveness Initiative

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Steve Brown, President, DeVry University, Orlando

Randy Gunter, Ph.D., 21st Century Learning Solutions

Craig Hagen  Electronic Arts Tiburon

Read 21st Century Learing Solutions White Paper!

Global Trade - Opening Markets and Protecting IP

Alan M. Weisberg, Esq.,  Christopher & Weisberg, P.A

. Manny Mencia, SVP, Enterprise Florida

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R & D Funding - Finding the Next Breakthrough Innovation

Afternoon Session – Setting the Stage for Change

Open Forum - Moderated Group Discussion
Moderated by Richard Kip, Lobbyist, AeA Florida

Next Steps - The purpose of the afternoon session was to define an agenda for change to secure and improve the US technology industry's global competitiveness. 

The group decided that we needed to come up with no more than five agenda items to collectively focus on. The four items the group decided Florida should focus on are:

1. Bring tuition for Florida's state University in line with at minimum the national average. Bring per pupil spending in line with, at minimum, the national average of per pupil spending.
2. Fully implement and fund the pay for performance teacher compensation.
3. Fund and implement a PR campaign targeting children with the message "Tech is cool" aimed to encourage more student participation in STEM courses.
4. Mandate that lottery proceeds are used exclusively for "extras" as originally intended by legislation.

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