A Way to Increase Market Share

Editor's Note

February / March 2010 By: Bob Cochnar Volume 8 Number 1

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Attention is finally being paid to a new Department of Energy unit patterned after DARPA, the very successful Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It's called the Advanced Research Projects Agency—€”Energy, or ARPA-E. Tom Michael, our Washington bureau chief, writes about the agency and its director, Arun Majumdar, on the page opposite.

Majumdar appeared recently before the House Science and Technology Committee for what its chairman, Bart Gordon, called it's "first annual checkup." Members on both sides of the aisle, even those who were initially opposed to ARPA-E's creation, generally agreed with Majumdar's testimony.

All are concerned about the loss of U.S. market share in key technologies. Two exhibits presented at the hearing illustrated the problem. One showed the U.S. market share and shipment of photovoltaic solar cells falling from 45 percent to less than 10 percent.Even worse is the U.S. manufacturing volume of lithium-ion batteries found in a wide range of consumer goods. "It is noteworthy," Majumdar said, "that the materials and chemistry that are used in these batteries were largely discovered here, yet the United States has about 1 percent of the global manufacturing volume."

ARPA-E offers the potential to increase market share of future energy technologies and, with it, high-paying American jobs while decreasing U.S. dependency on foreign energy sources and carbon emissions.

Chairman Gordon, among others, liked what he heard. Said he:
"I have followed very closely the progress of ARPA-E and I can safely say that I am very encouraged by what I have seen. Dr. Majumdar and his team understand their mission better than anyone. They understand that their charge is to be innovative not only in the projects they undertake but also in how they undertake them. They appear to be unafraid of confronting the traditional bureaucratic hurdles and trying new models for spurring innovation."

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If you turn to page 23, you'll find a message announcing the American Security Challenge, an annual program that intends to bring the latest and best security technologies to market. Its objective is to increase the visibility of innovative technology and help the commercialization process so that such technology can reach the public and commercial marketplaces as quickly as possible.
The Challenge operates under the auspices of the National Security Initiative, a nonprofit that uses the Department of Homeland Security's critical infrastructure sectors as guidelines for the program. The Challenge seeks to identify nascent technologies. Prizes to winners amount to millions of dollars. And so if you happen to be in the security space, you should check it out.
Innovation is pleased to join the Challenge as media sponsor. For more information, see www.americansecuritychallenge.org