Introduction
Nowadays, government regulation could be viewed as a critical aspect of the sufficient functioning of the state, as it has a positive impact on the overall economy and prosperity of the nation (Witte, 2015). The same idea applies to intermodal transportation, as the authorities can contribute to the resolution of the issues in a positive direction when finding a relevant solution to the problem.
Despite the clarity of this viewpoint, I tend to believe that the government could not be viewed a primary catalyst for innovations and development, as the majority of the changes are driven by the companies from the industry and its responsiveness and flexibility of the business environment while being critically reinforced by the national authorities.
Consequently, I entirely agree with the author and underline that the authorities are the crucial actors in driving innovation and are one of the critical contributors to the improvement of the means of intermodal transportation. To support my position, it is vital to use historical examples of the government’s involvement in the development of nuclear power and the introduction of new technologies for the Department of Defense (DOD) cultivated by the industrial trends while being monitored by the government at the same time. In the end, the conclusions are drawn to summarize the main findings of the paper.
Development of Nuclear Power Plants
In the first place, it is widely known that the government was the primary contributor and initiator of the establishment of the nuclear power factories in the country and worldwide. U.S. nuclear history started in 1942 in Chicago, and these actions were supported by the government by offering various subsidiaries for the establishment of nuclear plants and factories (Miller, 2013). There were several reasons for the development of these types of plants.
In the first place, they were more efficient and productive, as they supplied the vast territories with energy while helping to minimize the costs (Miller, 2013). Based on the factors provided above, it could be said that governmental authorities entirely controlled this segment while limiting the actions of the industry. This maintenance was essential, as the authorities had certain goals to pursue to enhance the financial prosperity of the nation and assure the safety of the American population.
Despite the positive intentions of the government, nuclear power energy has a significant number of drawbacks, which have to be improved to assure the sustainability of this energy generation tool (Pearce, 2012). One of the particular aspects is the insecurity of this matter, as any of its malfunction may result in manmade disasters (Pearce, 2012). Consequently, the optimization of energy generation and enhancement of the safety aspects are the primary matters, which have to be controlled by the government. Based on the analysis of the features conducted above, it could be said that a majority of the aspects were limited by the regulations and actions of the governmental authorities while the industry could have generated a greater number of innovations and novelties.
New Technologies for Department of Defense (DOD)
Another argument to support my opinion is the fact that the introduction of innovations and technologies was driven by the changes in the industry and the need to adapt to the fluctuations of the economic environment. For instance, during World War II, it was necessary to introduce the tanks to be responsive to the actions of the opponents (National defense university press, 2015). At the same time, there was a need to improve surveillance systems and use the capability prototyping approach to be able to overcome the difficulties and be responsive to the activities and technological improvements of the enemies (National defense university press, 2015).
Despite the fact that these actions were majorly industry-driven, one cannot underestimate the role of the governmental intervention, as it offered favorable conditions for the development of these technological aspects. In this case, it could be said that the ability of the American government to intervene in this process assisted the United States of America is reaching its military excellence while assuring its dominance in the world.
Conclusion
Overall, these historical examples provide a clear rationale for my viewpoint since they offer insights about the influence of the industry and governmental actions on the innovative processes. In this case, the historical events emphasized above underline the fact that the government has to be regarded as an initial catalyst for innovation. In this case, the modernizations concerning the development of nuclear power plants, the improvement of the technological aspects at DOD, and the enhancement of possibilities for intermodal means of transportation imply the involvement of a substantial amount of monetary and human resources.
Simultaneously, the government controls the safety of the proposed transactions while paying attention to sustainability. Nevertheless, one cannot underestimate that the government has to limit the actions of the industry while minimizing the options available at a free market economy, and these aspects may have an adverse influence on innovation in the sphere of intermodal transportation. Despite the presence of this drawback, I have a tendency to believe that the role of the government is crucial, but the authorities have to take into account the changes in the industry to ensure the competitiveness of the country at the international arena and maximize the productivity and efficiency of the selected segments.
References
Miller, C. (2013). Atlas of U.S. and Canadian environment history. New York, NY: Routledge.
National Defense university press: The defense innovation initiative. (2015). Web.
Pearce, J. (2012). Limitations of nuclear power as a sustainability energy source. Sustainability, 4(1), 1173-1187.
Witte, H. (2015). Sustainable market economy. Zurich, Germany: Lit Verlag.