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Work service businesses are cropping up in every business sector. Many of these new businesses are virtual. The new virtual knowledge based service businesses span the scope of business skills. Service businesses that are currently virtual include law firms, human resource, business development, accountants, marketing, sales, and engineering.

More than 70% of the US work force is now employed in service companies. But, the US economy is based in assets which historically means products. Over the past three decades manufacture of these products has been shifted to other nations. Historically information and knowledge was only valued if it was considered protected intellectual property.

What we now have is 70% of the US work force working in services and trying to be sustained by a declining product base. This change is occurring because the US is transitioning from a manufacturing base economy to a information and knowledge based economy. What has not occurred is a value system for information and knowledge. The financial system to support the creation of information and knowledge does not exist either. At this time the most advanced transitional systems to a knowledge base economy are those of information technology systems and business methods. MDS has shown what can be accomplished in knowledge and information creation. MDS has been a leader in creating and sharing our business success and processes.

As with other countries, the challenge for the US is whether it can solve the problems of valuing knowledge and creating financial systems to support virtual information and knowledge businesses. Historically the strength of the US economy has been the flexibility of small business to open the pathways. These are formidable challenges because they exist not only in the US but in other nations as well. Trade between countries is critical in a Global economy. The US Trade Deficit exists in part because its trade regulations are defined by trade of products and not by the services. We remain optimistic that these issues will be resolved.


We believe that to solve these problems in the near future requires significant changes in trade policy to adapt to what the US work force actually does. Small businesses must be encouraged to compete on a global basis. Currently it is difficult for small businesses to compete globally. While allowing US companies open trade creates some security risk, not changing policy may result in US economic decline. The full US work force needs to participate in the new global economy.