The rapid changes in technology, the changes in the national and global economy and the emergence of many new nations that acquire an increasing competence to innovate is presenting us with new issues and opportunities. In particular, it affects the innovation system of the country, namely the scientific and technological infrastructure, the workforce and the policy environment in which government, industry, and academia operates. From a sequential or serial model we are moving or have moved to a dynamic, interactive one that encompasses more stakeholders in a realtime way. Of late, the work of the Council on Competitiveness has focused on the capacity for innovation as a pre-requisite for national competitiveness. This talk will discuss the results from its report “Going Global: The New Shape of American Innovation” and its “Findings from the Innovation Index” and assess the forces that affect the future. The main conclusion will be that the changes we have and will be facing are irreversible and require the active and positive participation of the technical professional and technical institutions. It also requires new relationships between the main participants of the innovation system. ©2000 American Institute of Physics.