In a story reported by the San Francisco Chronicle and New York Times, a group led by Intel and 24 Venture Capital has pledged $3.5 billion in private investment for tech start-ups.  This effort will go hand in hand with a commitment by Intel, Google, Microsoft, and Cisco to hire 10,500 engineers and computer scientists from American universities.

The investments, which will include clean energy as a main focus, are meant to serve a dual purpose in stimulating technological innovation while sending a message to the government about the need for public funding.  One prominent executive frames the push this way:

“This investment is one step forward, but also an important bridge-building step with the public sector,” said Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a trade organization representing employers. It says “Silicon Valley is serious about putting our wallets where our words are.”

The need for international competitiveness also took center stage in the conversation, as noted by Intel’s CEO, Paul S. Otellini:

“Unfortunately, long-term investments in education, research, digital technology and human capital have been steadily declining in the U.S.,” Mr. Otellini said, according to a transcript of the speech. “So, too, has the commitment to policies that made us such an entrepreneurial powerhouse for more than a century.”

Other countries, including China, India, Taiwan, Finland, Korea and the Netherlands, have become “far more potent competitors in the next phase of the global economy,” he said.

Venture capitalist Robert Compton expounded upon these sentiments:

Fewer than 10 percent of college graduates in the United States have engineering degrees, compared with more than one-third in India and China, and more foreign-born graduates of United States universities are returning to their home countries, he said.

“Early indicators are that we are not the center of innovation anymore,” Mr. Compton said. “It is shifting to the East.”

Another indicator of the shift is patent filings, which increased 30 percent in China last year while declining 11 percent in the United States, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization.

These sentiments further highlight the need for programs like RE-ENERGYSE to improve science and technology education and direct federal investment in energy R & D.  In the mean time, private industry is rising to the investment challenge and hoping to pull the government in the right direction.