EAGER: Internet Based Manufacturing: Cause or Cure for Global Imbalance

EARLY概念探索性研究赠款（EAGER）奖提供资金，用于创建一个论坛，讨论基于互联网的技术，这些技术可以在设计，制造和管理方面实现更高程度的自动化。 虽然互联网的出现通过增加获得知识和教育的机会，有助于减少世界上的一些地理不平衡，但它提供的通信效率可能在其他领域产生相反的效果，包括全球制造业。这种在全球范围内要求制造业投标并在短时间内将合同授予出价最低者的新能力可能有助于将无法在全球有效市场上竞争的传统制造业社区连根拔起。因此，低工资和环境限制宽松的国家越来越成功地吸引制造业就业机会。无法在制造业中竞争的社区最终将失去产品设计和实现方面的知识和专长，导致现代经济竞争力的重大损失。不均衡的竞争力威胁着长期增长、稳定与和平。虽然制造业只是造成各国之间货物、服务和资金流动不平衡的诸多因素之一，但人们认为，由于制造业与就业的密切关系，制造业是经济成功的重要驱动力和预测因素。 为了应对这一挑战，该项目提出了一项计划，以解决制造业日益加剧的不平衡，使用相同的技术来驱动它。更高程度的自动化将促进制造成本与工资脱钩，有助于消除地理不平衡背后的一些驱动力。据推测，可以通过构建新的自动化基础设施来创造一组平衡的新制造业工作岗位，而不是通过使用它。 由于预计通过下一代互联网资源可以实现更高程度的制造业自动化，因此将邀请谷歌和湾区的主要制造商参加此次对话。该论坛将致力于从这些讨论中提炼想法和技术建议，并将其提供给制造业社区以供发展。

This EArly-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award provides funding to create a forum to discuss internet based technologies that may enable a substantially higher degree of automation in design, manufacturing and administration. While the emergence of the internet has contributed towards reducing some of the world's geographic imbalances by increasing access to knowledge and education, the efficiency of communication that it provides may be having the opposite effect in other domains, including global manufacturing. This new ability to request manufacturing bids on a global basis and award contracts to the lowest bidder in a short period of time may have contributed towards the uprooting of traditional manufacturing communities which are unable to compete in a globally efficient market. As a result, countries with low wages and lax environmental constraints are increasingly successful in attracting manufacturing jobs. Communities which cannot compete in manufacturing will ultimately lose knowledge and expertise in product design and realization, leading to a significant loss in modern economic competitiveness. Uneven competitiveness threatens long-term growth, stability, and peace. Although manufacturing is just one factor out of many contributing towards an uneven flow of goods, services and money between countries, it is felt that because of its strong relationship with jobs, it is a significant driver and predictor of economic success. In response to this challenge, this project suggests a plan to address increasing imbalance in manufacturing using the same technology that drives it.A higher degree of automation will advance the decoupling of manufacturing cost from wages, helping to eliminate some of driving force behind geographic imbalance. It is speculated that a balanced set of new manufacturing jobs can be created in building the new automation infrastructure, rather than through its usage. Since it is expected that a higher degree of manufacturing automation can be achieved through next generation internet resources, Google and key manufacturers in the Bay Area will be invited to participate in this dialogue. The forum will work on distilling ideas and technology suggestions from these discussions and delivering them to the manufacturing community for development.