MIT's 'Priority Technologies' Maps Path to U.S. Economic and Security Leadership

Innovation drives economic growth. This fundamental truth about our world forms the foundation of a new MIT Press book that examines how the United States can maintain its technological edge while rebuilding domestic manufacturing capabilities.

[IMAGE:1]

"Priority Technologies: Ensuring U.S. Security and Shared Prosperity," published this week, identifies six key areas where technology advances can drive the economy and support national security. The sectors—semiconductors, biotechnology, critical minerals, drones, quantum computing, and advanced manufacturing—represent both areas of American strength and potential vulnerabilities.

The book emerges from an MIT seminar series that began in 2023, bringing together faculty expertise to address pressing questions about U.S. competitiveness. Elisabeth Reynolds, a professor of the practice in MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning and former special assistant to the president for manufacturing and development, edited the volume.

"In each of these areas, there are breakthroughs to be had, where the U.S. can leapfrog competitors and gain an advantage," Reynolds explains. "That's a very exciting part of this."

Semiconductors: The Oxygen of Modern Society

Jesús A. del Alamo, the Donner Professor of Science in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, describes semiconductors as "the oxygen of modern society." While this U.S.-born industry has seen significant manufacturing shift overseas, the country is now rebuilding its capacity to produce leading-edge logic chips.

"With semiconductors, people thought the U.S. could lose the manufacturing, stay on top of the innovation and design side, and would be fine," Reynolds notes. "But it's turned out to make the country quite vulnerable."

The vulnerability became starkly apparent during the 2021 chip shortage, which contributed approximately one-third of inflation that year. The U.S. response has been substantial, with recent policy shifts aimed at rebuilding semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.

Biotechnology: Innovation Without Manufacturing

J. Christopher Love, the Laurent Professor of Chemical Engineering, highlights a critical bottleneck in biotechnology. While the U.S. leads in biotech research, it "lacks the manufacturing infrastructure and expertise necessary to bring these ideas to the market at the same pace as it generates innovative new products."

Love suggests that smaller, more flexible production facilities could help the U.S. "leapfrog" other countries on the manufacturing side. The potential market is enormous—estimated at $4 trillion over the next 15 years.

"We have tremendous biotech innovation, we're the leaders, but we have a bottleneck when it comes manufacturing," Reynolds observes. "If we can break through that with new technologies, new production processes, we're in a position to make us less vulnerable, from a supply chain point of view, and capture more of what is going to be a $4 trillion market."

Critical Minerals and Supply Chain Resilience

Elsa Olivetti, the Jerry McAfee (1940) Professor of Engineering and a professor of materials science and engineering, recommends a multifaceted approach to help the U.S. regain traction in critical minerals production. Her recommendations include better forms of extraction, manufacturing, and recycling to reduce potential scarcities.

This focus on supply chain resilience emerges as a common theme across all sectors examined in the book. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains, prompting renewed interest in domestic production capabilities.

Quantum Computing: The Next Frontier

William D. Oliver, the Henry Ellis Warren (1894) Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a professor of physics, and Jonathan Ruane, a senior lecturer at MIT Sloan, examine quantum computing's potential to accelerate drug discovery, materials science, and energy applications.

While the U.S. still leads in private-sector investment in quantum computing, it trails China in public-sector investment. The authors urge more research support and stronger supply chains for quantum computing components.

"The country that achieves quantum leadership will gain decisive advantages in these strategically important industries," they write.

The University-Government Partnership

The book emphasizes the crucial partnership between the federal government and U.S. universities, which has historically given the country an initial lead in many economic sectors. This partnership was formalized in the 1940s, thanks in part to then-MIT president Vannevar Bush.

According to some estimates, government investment in non-defense research and development alone has accounted for up to 25 percent of U.S. economic growth since World War II.

"Vannevar Bush realized it wasn't about a stock of technology, it was about a flow of innovation," says Simon Johnson, the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management, who wrote the book's foreword. "And that brilliant insight is still relevant today."

Johnson, who shared the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics, emphasizes that the technologies discussed are not futuristic concepts but current necessities. "This is not even the future. This is current. These are the technologies needed to defend the country and its interests."

Common Themes and Policy Recommendations

Across all sectors, the book identifies several common themes essential to U.S. competitiveness:

• Supply chain resilience and manufacturing capability
• The need for capital investment in hardware-side, physically substantial industrial growth
• The importance of expanding and strengthening domestic supply chains
• The role of universities as research engines driving innovation

Reynolds emphasizes that the U.S. must help drive its innovation ecosystem through expansion of its industrial system and manufacturing capabilities. "Can we help drive the country's innovation ecosystem through expansion of our industrial system and manufacturing? That's a big question."

Real-World Impact and Reception

The book has already garnered praise from scholars and industry leaders. Erica Fuchs, a professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, notes that the volume underscores "the positive role technology can play in those outcomes" when it comes to ensuring American national security, economic competitiveness, and societal well-being.

Hemant Taneja, CEO of venture capital firm General Catalyst, calls the volume "required reading for anyone interested in building the abundant, resilient future America deserves."

Reynolds and Johnson hope the book will draw many kinds of readers interested in the economy, innovation, prosperity, and national security. "We tried to make the volume accessible," Reynolds says, noting that it directly lays out "challenges for the country, and what we see as recommendations for next steps in how we position the country to succeed, and lead globally."

The authors aim to enhance the ongoing policy conversation in Washington and across the country about supporting innovation and using it to drive U.S. economic and technological leadership. As Johnson puts it, "Here are the technologies we currently need. This is not imagination, this is not fanciful, this is not science fiction."

The message is clear: America possesses the knowledge and resources to maintain its technological leadership, but success requires focused investment in innovation while simultaneously rebuilding domestic production capabilities. The technologies that will defend the country and drive prosperity are here today—the question is whether the U.S. will make the necessary investments to lead in their development and deployment.

[IMAGE:2]

The book represents a comprehensive roadmap for policymakers, industry leaders, and citizens who want to understand how technology can drive shared prosperity while ensuring national security. By identifying specific sectors and offering concrete recommendations, "Priority Technologies" provides a practical guide for navigating the complex intersection of innovation, manufacturing, and economic policy in an increasingly competitive global landscape.