U.S. President Barack Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) gala in New York June 17, 2014. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

With a view to revive hi-tech manufacturing and create jobs, U.S. President Barack Obama launched a series of executive actions to direct a $530 million investment in vital technologies, which are crucial to the industrial competitiveness of the United States.

Accordingly, the corpus will be invested to help the manufacturing industry for developing prototypes, testing, hiring apprentices and availing partnership with academic experts. Mr Obama announced these initiatives on Monday at the meeting of Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships Steering Committee that guides him on manufacturing-related executive orders. The 19 steering committee members include big honchos of the manufacturing industry such as United Steelworkers International President Leo Gerard and Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld.

Under the programme, $130 million, besides non-federal dollars, will be distributed to Manufacturing Extension Partnerships in states such as Colorado, New Hampshire, Oregon, Tennessee, North Carolina, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Texas and Virginia. The aim is to raise competitiveness of small manufacturers in making them leverage new technologies and add new products to market, reports Post Gazette.

Cutting-Edge Technologies

Once the pilot programmes are proven successful, it will be extended to more places. A statement from the White House highlighted the support of NASA and the departments of Defence, Energy and Agriculture with investments more than $300 million in emerging technologies. They include advanced materials such as bio-based materials, advanced sensors and digital manufacturing.

The private sector resources will also contribute to drive the manufacturing of high-tech materials, including "new steel alloys that are twice as strong and lighter than today." The government hopes these initiatives will eliminate dependence on foreign suppliers for critical materials.

Move Hailed

The president's initiative got a good response. It was welcomed by Alliance for American Manufacturing, which said the president deserves a lot of praise for investing in the innovative apprenticeship programmes for boosting the next wave of manufacturing technologies. The Alliance president, Scott Paul, said manufacturing is the best solution to address income inequality and decline of the middle class. The White House has claimed that since February 2010, the U.S. manufacturing sector is going strong with more than 700,000 jobs under its belt, and the pace of job growth is making a strong return to rates last seen in the 1990s, reports Fox News.

The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership was launched in 2011 and was re-christened in 2013 as AMP 2.0. It is co-chaired by MIT President Rafael Reif and Dow Chemical Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris.