innovation

More than 13,000 people come to South by Southwest Interactive in Austin to launch new products, play, learn -- and party. It's become one of the hottest tech shows in the country for creative types to network with geeks.

Pharmaceuticals are beginning realize that the future of health care will be wireless, consumer-centric and tech-driven. If they plan to succeed in the new world of medicine, they will need to start working with IT companies, retailers, telecoms and mobile-phone networks.

Both the Senate and the White House have proposals for creating more much-needed jobs. Either would add slightly to an already-massive deficit, and either would help at least a little. But neither plan gets at what the U.S. really needs: growth led by innovation.

As the government has scrambled to keep America's banking and auto industries afloat, it has become all too easy to neglect the need for long-term economic and industrial growth. A key prerequisite for the country to return to sustainable, balanced growth is the creation of new technologies to...