Priority Technologies

Elisabeth B. Reynolds is Professor of the Practice, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, at MIT. She previously served as Special Assistant for Manufacturing and Economic Development at the National Economic Council in 2021 2022 as well as the Executive Director of the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future and the Industrial Performance Center from 2010 2021. Simon Johnson is Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship and MIT Sloan School of Management, Head, Global Economics and Management. He is the 2024 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics.

ENDORSEMENTS''“The security of our nation will increasingly depend not just on traditional armaments and allies but on an eclectic set of economic inputs and the critical industries they enable. In an ocean of options, where our society places its bets is of paramount importance. For policymakers, investors, and the general public seeking to separate signal from noise, this carefully curated collection comes not a moment too soon.”—Jon Finer, Former US Principal Deputy Security Advisor, National Security Council“The path forward to ensuring American national security, shared prosperity, and well-being is fraught with hard questions and few answers. This book highlights the positive role technology can play in these outcomes, including how effective national strategy can require simultaneous government action across multiple agencies, time frames, and market segments to ensure capabilities that private actors cannot sustain independently, given the dynamics of global markets.”—Erica Fuchs, Kavčić-Moura Professor, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University; Director, Critical Technology Initiative“Priority Technologies should be required reading for US policymakers. The MIT contributors consider technologies, processes, and materials critical to national and economic security—and offer roadmaps for the United States to overcome its atrophied industrial base and recapture its global leadership in these strategic fields.”—L. Rafael Reif, President Emeritus and Ray and Maria Stata Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT“This book reveals a fundamental truth: Innovation alone is not enough. We must rebuild the entire ecosystem to translate scientific breakthroughs into strategic advantage. Priority Technologies is required reading for anyone interested in building the abundant, resilient future America deserves.”—Hemant Taneja, CEO, General Catalyst; author of The Transformation Principles