I think we’d all agree that we no longer live in the Industrial Age. At an accelerating pace, our world has become more global, more digitized, more automated and more disparate than ever before. Content knowledge is rapidly losing its premier position, as evidenced by cognitive technology such as Watson the supercomputer beating two Jeopardy champions. Increasingly, being able to think critically, collaboratively, creatively and with empathy are the skills, attributes and dispositions employers are seeking in its talent workforce. In short, the innovation economy has arrived.

The United States of America, once the land of innovation, is the soil where the Wright brothers flew the first airplane in 1903. Less than one generation later, in 1969, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon—amazing progress for that time. The USA remains a highly sought-after country to immigrate to as thousands arrive to pursue the American Dream, a recipe that requires doing, inventing, creating and imagining. Throw in persistence, grit and strong character and the likelihood of living a high-quality life becomes even more probable.

Yet, the stark reality is that America is losing ground and only a small percentage of our population is truly innovative. In 2009, 51 percent of US patents were awarded to non-US companies, and in the annual rankings of the most innovative companies, the majority of the top 25 companies are located outside the United States.

Sarasota County residents are indeed fortunate to live in a community that supports education. Educating our youth goes far beyond the four walls of a classroom and our community has demonstrated time and time again its willingness to share the responsibility of developing our next generation of leaders. But have we done enough? Have we done all that we can do? Can we do better?

I believe so.

It’s time to create a unified movement, a strong coalition of parents, teachers, mentors and employers that goes far beyond what we are each doing independently. With great admiration of the work already being accomplished, let’s build upon those successes to reimagine the nexus where education and innovation meet. Sarasota County can become the model of innovation education. We can accomplish this by our willingness to take a collective risk, accept failure as part of the iteration process and, with dogged determination, put our children’s best interest at heart.

If you want to see all children become innovative for life, please get involved. The opportunities are boundless and I look forward to hearing from you. 

Jennifer Vigne is executive director of the Education Foundation of Sarasota County.