As we move into an ever rapidly increasing era of technology I feel we are not fully utilizing the potential of our garage entrepreneurs, inventors and retired innovative thinkers. In fact I feel so strongly about this fact that I can no longer keep silent on this issue of paramount importance.

I believe if I were running things I would ask the Congress to give the President's Administration discretionary funds for research, totally discretionary funds to use. Then I would have two technology advisors and several staff, people like me who could travel the country and check out all these back yard gadgets. These two advisors would report directly to the President so they can understand the future trends and what is coming thru the pipeline. Other wise the nation could be caught short with surprises on the horizon causing paradigm shifts and disruption, which is unanticipated.

How would this work exactly? Well the garage inventor would just call in and someone will come by and take a look at it. We have so much innovation that we waste. If someone has a unique device in their house or garage, then pay off their house and give them 100K over 24 months and some living money? Hell we blow that on paperclips. If it is not that good of an invention, but still interesting then give them $5,000 and buy it.

In this case take the research or device and hand it over to Naval Research, Lockheed, Boeing, AFRL, DARPA or something. Then the inventor will go think of another device, continually rewarding innovators. If the government does not feel this technology is viable well then, they can give to the Think Tank, let us screw around with it, add on to it and then hand it back? Or give it to a University Research Company.

By doing this we could help the small time inventor by-pass the bureaucracy and you know really drive the innovations, for everything. Keep it cheap; give inventors some incentive. It can be done. You need to understand we are moving into the robot age and that robotics is moving forward. We should all be proud of DARPAs efforts, but we need to triple up or quadruple up their budget and get to the ten times the current. Because the future is approaching and we need it. Meanwhile we need to feed the system and prime the pump and allow the ideas and inventions to flow like water for the benefits of our nation. Think on this in 2006.