National Council for Expanding American Innovation (NCEAI)

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A federal advisory council established by the USPTO in 2020 to develop strategies increasing diversity and inclusion in the American innovation ecosystem, focusing on underrepresented inventors and entrepreneurs.
What are the main aims and objectives?

The NCEAI aims to expand participation in innovation across demographic, geographic, and economic lines by increasing representation of women, minorities, and veterans as inventors, patentees, and entrepreneurs in the US innovation ecosystem. It seeks to identify and dismantle structural barriers to participation, foster lifelong innovation pathways from education to entrepreneurship, promote equitable access to intellectual property and commercialization networks, and strengthen the nation’s competitiveness through broadening its innovation talent pool. The Council emphasizes data-driven, collaborative multi-sector strategies to implement measurable solutions enhancing innovation equity nationwide.

How does the program work?

NCEAI functions as a 29-member advisory council convened and supported by the USPTO. It includes leaders from industry, academia, government, and nonprofit sectors. Under the chairmanship of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and vice-chairmanship of the USPTO Director, the Council conducts regular meetings, public consultations, and working groups focusing on identifying barriers and crafting specific actionable recommendations.

The Council leverages extensive data analysis of inventor demographics and innovation participation rates to target gaps, developing strategies that encompass education, mentoring, IP protection, entrepreneurship support, and funding access for underrepresented groups. It promotes ecosystem coordination, public-private partnerships, and accountability through ongoing progress reports charting invention and patent filing diversity.

Through stakeholder engagement and public comment processes, NCEAI ensures that innovation policy recommendations are grounded in practical challenges faced by diverse populations, facilitating adoption by federal agencies and private sector actors to create an inclusive innovation environment.

What is the overall cost?

Specific funding allocated solely for NCEAI operations is not publicly disclosed.

How was it implemented?

The NCEAI was established following the 2018 SUCCESS Act congressional mandate directing the USPTO to investigate innovation participation disparities. After comprehensive studies and hearings culminating in a 2019 report, the USPTO officially launched NCEAI in September 2020, appointing diverse council members drawn from multiple sectors.

The Council began convening meetings, launching "Innovation Chats," and soliciting public input to iteratively develop detailed strategy recommendations. Its leadership includes high-level officials such as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and USPTO Director.

The implementation process focuses on collaborative multi-sector engagement, data-driven policy formulation, and integration with existing federal innovation initiatives, with ongoing monitoring through periodic progress reports and stakeholder consultations.

What impact has been measured?

Comprehensive quantitative impact data directly attributing outcomes to NCEAI is limited.

NCEAI authored evidence-based recommendations garnering multi-sector engagement, fostering focus on innovation equity, and catalyzing related initiatives such as enhanced tracking of women inventor-patentees and support for minority innovation organizations.

Progress and Potential: 2020 update on U.S. women inventor-patentees: This report updates the USPTO’s 2019 report on U.S. women inventor-patentees, using three years of new data, covering 2017 through 2019. It provides new information on women’s participation in the U.S. patent system, finding, among other things, that women make up an increasing share of all new entrants to the patent system, rising from about 5% of new inventor-patentees in 1980 to 17.3% by 2019.

What lessons can be learned?
  • As an advisory council, NCEAI lacks direct implementation authority, relying on federal agencies and private sectors to act on recommendations.
  • Being a young initiative, measurable ecosystem changes require time, complicating early impact assessment.
  • Data-driven specificity is a strength but requires continuous data access and analytical capability.
  • Multi-sector coordination is complex, demanding clear role delineation and sustained collaboration.
  • Funding for implementing recommendations depends on broader federal innovation budgets with competing priorities.
  • Addressing geographic diversity remains challenging in an innovation ecosystem concentrated in few hubs.
  • Transparency and accountability in progress reporting are critical to building trust and momentum.
  • Public awareness efforts are necessary to translate policy intent into community action.
Notes + Additional Context

The NCEAI was born out of a recommendation in the USPTO's 2018 Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success (SUCCESS) Act of 2018  transmitted to Congress on October 31, 2019, which found that women and minorities are underrepresented as inventors named on U.S.-granted patents. Among its major findings were:

  • A review of literature and data sources found that there is a limited amount of publicly available information regarding the participation rates of women, minorities, and veterans in the patent system.
  • The bulk of the existing literature focuses on women, with a very small number of studies focused on minorities, and only some qualitative historical information on U.S. veteran inventor-patentees.
  • One of the most comprehensive studies focused on women inventor-patentees is "Progress and Potential: a profile of women inventors on U.S. patents," a report published by the USPTO in February 2019. It found that 12% of all inventor-patentees in 2016 were women, up from 5% in the mid-1980s.
  • Overall, there is a need for additional information to determine the participation rates of women, minorities, and veterans in the patent system.
  • The report concludes with a list of six new USPTO initiatives and five legislative recommendations for increasing the participation of women, minorities, and veterans as inventor-patentees and entrepreneurs.

The report encouraged the creation of a high-level council of industry, academic, and government leaders tasked with helping develop a national strategy for increased participation of underrepresented groups in innovation—as inventors, entrepreneurs, and innovation leaders.

CURATED BY

Cristina Fernandez

Director for Knowledge + Programming
Global Entrepreneurship Network
United States