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The problem is that there is a British border in the island of Ireland. One part of the country, Northern Ireland, belongs to the UK, and the rest is an independent country. Historically, the whole island of Ireland belonged to the UK. Ireland became independent on December 6th, 1922, following a 5-year War of Independence. On 7th December 1922 - the following day - the region now known as Northern Ireland petitioned the King of the United Kingdom to return to the UK.There had always been free movement of people and goods between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain while Ireland belonged to the UK. This freedom, at least for people, largely continued after Irish independence, and was eventually codified as the Common Travel Agreement, which permits British and Irish people to travel to, and live, work and vote in each others’ jurisdiction without any barrier whatsoever. The CTA was unilaterally suspended for the whole island of Ireland by the UK during WWII, much to the horror of the British citizens of Northern Ireland.The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is 499km long, and has between 208 and 275 road crossing points (almost twice as many as there are on the entirety of the EU’s eastern border) - the confusion arises because some roads meander back and forth over the border multiple times. This does not include river and lake crossings, private roads, lanes, hiking trails, rights-of-way and bridle paths such as those on farmland, or the many houses which are situated partly in the Republic and partly in the North. During the Troubles, most public roads were closed, and the rest manned by soldiers and armed police. After the end of the Troubles, and with the accession of both Ireland and the UK to the EU, the border has been non-existent. Each day 30,000 people, 5,900 lorries, 6,900 vans, and 62,000 cars travel across the border at all crossing points with no hindrance or inspection.The Troubles ended with the signing of the Belfast Agreement, better known as the Good Friday Agreement. Both the Irish and British government signed this treaty, which was sponsored by the USA, the UN and the EU - the latter providing substantial funding for cross-border cooperation. The treaty is international, binding, and lodged with the UN. It stipulates quite specifically that both Irish and UK governments exercise “strict impartiality” with regard to the self-determination of Northern Ireland, and commit both to developing “co-operation … on a cross-border or all-island level” on areas related but not limited to:“1. Agriculture - animal and plant health.2. Education - teacher qualifications and exchanges*.3. Transport - strategic transport planning.4. Environment - environmental protection, pollution, water quality, and waste management.5. Waterways - inland waterways.6. Social Security/Social Welfare - entitlements of cross-border workers and fraud control.7. Tourism - promotion, marketing, research, and product development.8. Relevant EU Programmes such as SPPR, INTERREG, Leader II and their successors.9. Inland Fisheries.10. Aquaculture and marine matters11. Health: accident and emergency services and other related cross-border issues*.12. Urban and rural development.”In short, the border was to be treated as if it did not exist.All this cooperation and impartiality was made largely possible by the UK and Ireland’s membership of the EU, with its 4 Freedoms**. Now, however, the UK has voted to leave the EU, largely because the people of the UK want to ‘control their borders’.But if they control their borders, they must control the border in Ireland - which breaks the GFA.So, in order to protect the GFA, the UK has decided it will NOT control the Irish border.Having an unmanned border causes problems for both the EU and the UK - smuggling, illegal immigration - so the Irish border must be manned.So the UK says it will use technology to monitor the border.This technology does not exist.If it did exist, and could be deployed in the next 6 months, that means the border effectively IS ‘manned’, and the monitoring equipment will be destroyed by terrorist organisations and probably quite a few disgruntled locals.The EU has offered a number of possible trading arrangements to the UK which would solve the border issue, including a ‘backstop’ deal in which Northern Ireland would remain in the Single Market and Customs Union, regardless of what happens with the UK.The UK was on the point of signing up to the ‘backstop’ in December 2017, which would have left it free to negotiate any relationship it wanted with the EU while not breaking the GFA - the perfect win-win situation -When a Northern Irish party, the DUP, told the British Prime Minister that they would not support any deal that separated Northern Ireland from the UK, even if only notionally***.As the British government cannot win any parliamentary debate without the DUP, the entire UK is forced to do the bidding of 10 or so religious bigots who are incapable of compromise or negotiation.So, there it is. The whole problem of the border could have been solved by the ‘backstop’ deal in December 2017, the UK could have negotiated whatever deal it wanted for itself by now, and we’d be sailing smoothly into the transition period with Northern Ireland looking forward to considerable inward investment and job creation - but for the elected representatives of Northern Ireland.* - Some of these matters of cooperation have expanded far beyond this remit (AS INTENDED). For example, children in border communities may attend the nearest school on either side of the border; some medical specialisms are available only in Northern Ireland or only in the Republic, and NI and RoI patients are treated regardless of their residential status; and the electricity supply is integrated and largely supplied by the Republic.** - Yes, the UK and Ireland could probably have written a treaty that fulfilled all the same functions as the 4 Freedoms, but they didn’t have to, and therefore did not do so. If they had done so, the treaty would be much, much longer, and might still be being negotiated.*** - The DUP are the only party in Northern Ireland to vote to Leave the EU; Northern Irish voters as a whole voted to Remain. Polling suggests that NI voters would be perfectly happy with the backstop deal, and many are of the opinion that having links with the UK and the EU would be a massive boost to the NI economy.

President Obama’s efforts to fuel innovation and entrepreneurship are wide-ranging and unprecedented. As Chief Technology Officer of the United States (a position created for the first time by President Obama), I see these efforts first-hand throughout the Administration—and as an entrepreneur who cofounded a company at age 24 and took it public ten years later, I have a special appreciation for how startups and innovation create jobs and prosperity across the countryLet’s focus on three areas where the President’s leadership is making a huge impact: promoting high-growth entrepreneurship, helping accelerate technology breakthroughs, and investing in the “building blocks” of innovation. This is by no means a comprehensive list of every Administration effort to foster innovation across the United States, but every example below is specific, impactful, and well underway.Promoting high-growth entrepreneurshipUnlocking capital: This spring President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act (http://wh.gov/QBy), a bipartisan bill that allows startups to raise capital from investors more efficiently, among other initiatives, by allowing small-dollar crowdfunding investments (http://wh.gov/3Buf), expanding mini-public offerings, and creating an “IPO on-ramp” consistent with investor protections. This is on top of an Administration commitment of $2 billion to match private investment in high-growth companies over the next five years through vehicles such as Impact Investment Funds (http://1.usa.gov/rfYCI8) and Early Stage Innovation Funds (http://1.usa.gov/JFf36a). The Small Business Investment Company program just had a record year in 2011 of helping over 1,000 businesses get $2.6 billion in capital.Nurturing entrepreneurial talent: President Obama has taken executive action to make it much easier for graduates to manage student loan debt (http://wh.gov/uc1) and pursue an entrepreneurial path (http://wh.gov/TX5). The Administration has launched new mentorship and training opportunities for thousands of entrepreneurs starting new high-growth companies—including military veterans (http://1.usa.gov/NHNTE8), undergraduate engineers (http://1.usa.gov/qJOiWK), and clean energy entrepreneurs (http://1.usa.gov/fm47Pr) and students (http://1.usa.gov/o0kdfS) — and is engaged in sustained efforts to attract and retain immigrant entrepreneurs who create jobs here in the US (http://1.usa.gov/NglcgG).Speeding up “lab to market” research: The President has directed all federal research agencies to help accelerate innovation (http://wh.gov/Tuh) by speeding up grants to startups. The National Science Foundation launched an Innovation Corps (http://1.usa.gov/pQSt45) to get teams of scientists out of the lab and starting new companies. Over twenty federal agencies have cooperated to fund regional entrepreneurial ecosystems (http://1.usa.gov/qV9X0e), and are dramatically streamlining patent licenses for entrepreneurs in clean energy (http://techportal.eere.energy.gov/category/startup_america) and biotech (http://www.ott.nih.gov/startup).Liberating data to fuel innovation: The Administration has launched a series of Open Data Initiatives—in health (http://wh.gov/5bg), public safety (http://wh.gov/v9W), education (http://wh.gov/uDZ), and energy (http://wh.gov/OGKY) —to stimulate entrepreneurial innovation using newly unleashed data from government and other sources. As a model, decades ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (http://noaa.gov) began making weather data available for free electronic download by anyone. Entrepreneurs utilized these data (http://data.gov) to create weather newscasts, websites, mobile applications, insurance, and much more. Today, entrepreneurs are using freely available government data and building apps and services that help Americans in an expanding number of ways – e.g., apps and services that help people find the right health care provider for their family, identify the college that provides the best value for their money, save money on electricity bills through smarter shopping (http://wh.gov/REo), keep their families safe by knowing which products have been recalled, and much, much more.The Startup America Partnership: In response to the President’s call to action to support American entrepreneurs, the nonprofit Startup America Partnership (http://s.co) has mobilized well over $1 billion in private-sector commitments to help support startups and has launched entrepreneur-led coalitions in Startup Regions (http://www.s.co/regions/map) across the country.Helping accelerate technology breakthroughsBiotechnology: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a new National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) (http://www.ncats.nih.gov/) to speed up the development of new diagnostics, treatments, and cures by building new bridges between the lab and clinic.Nanotechnology: The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) (http://nano.gov) is investing in areas such as nano-electronics, to foster a revolution in computing comparable to the transition from the vacuum tube to the transistor.Advanced manufacturing: President Obama launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) (http://1.usa.gov/Q8uopK), a national effort that brings together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in the emerging technologies that create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance our global competitiveness (read the AMP Steering Committee report: http://wh.gov/xTFw). As a first step in building a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (http://1.usa.gov/N0izNg), the Administration is funding a pilot institute for additive manufacturing (3-D printing) (http://1.usa.gov/HhHgBC). The President has also launched a National Robotics Initiative (http://wh.gov/rEt) and a Materials Genome Initiative (http://wh.gov/yF4) to help accelerate manufacturing innovation.Space exploration: Guided by the President’s National Space Policy (http://wh.gov/3HB), NASA, the Department of Defense, and other agencies are advancing U.S. capabilities and expanding American industry’s role in developing next-generation applications—including the historic docking of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft (http://1.usa.gov/Nk2qQD) with the International Space Station.Health care technology: Building on the Recovery Act (http://wh.gov/recovery) and the Affordable Care Act (http://wh.gov/healthreform), the Administration is continuously engaged in major efforts to promote health information technology adoption, reform payment incentives to reward value instead of volume, and liberate health information for the benefit of patients while protecting privacy.Educational technologies: To advance technologies that will transform teaching and learning, the President launched the Digital Promise partnership (http://1.usa.gov/Ole1n1) and championed a new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education (ARPA-ED) (http://1.usa.gov/h9kob4).Clean energy: The Administration is working to accelerate game-changing energy breakthroughs by funding the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) (http://arpa-e.energy.gov/) and Energy Innovation Hubs (http://1.usa.gov/NHPOII), while pursuing 21st century grand challenges like SunShot (http://1.usa.gov/jignu6) (making solar energy cost-competitive with fossil fuels) and EV Everywhere (http://wh.gov/XFe) (making electric vehicles as affordable and convenient to own and drive as today’s gasoline-powered vehicles).Investing in “building blocks” of innovationResearch and development: The market innovations that drive economic progress so often depend on breakthroughs in fundamental science. President Obama has implemented the largest increase in federally funded research and development (R&D) in history (http://1.usa.gov/h1cg9G), and is making continuous investments to fuel “Big Data” (http://1.usa.gov/OlfERF) research and double funding for key basic research agencies.Education: The President has led the charge to provide every K-12 student in America with a world-class education, including the historic Race to the Top (http://1.usa.gov/2rYyB0) investments to drive comprehensive reform at the state and district levels. The Investing in Innovation (I3) fund (http://1.usa.gov/Nk4R5x) supports school districts and nonprofit partners to develop, validate, and implement innovative evidence-based practices that accelerate student learning and achievement. And the President has doubled down on education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by launching a STEM Master Teacher Corps (http://1.usa.gov/Olgpdu) along with public/private investments to scale up high-quality STEM programs (http://changetheequation.org), prepare 100,000 STEM teachers over the next decade (http://wh.gov/tZl), and graduate 10,000 more engineers every year (http://1.usa.gov/ppgPfX).Internet: The President signed legislation to invest $7 billion in broadband infrastructure, computers, and training (http://www.broadbandusa.gov/) for consumers and businesses nationwide, and has moved to dramatically expand high-speed wireless service for consumers and first responders through both direct executive action (http://1.usa.gov/Olh0M9) and legislation (http://wh.gov/l17z). Through the US Ignite partnership (http://1.usa.gov/OlhmCt), the Administration has also laid the groundwork for next-generation ultra-fast broadband networks. And during the national debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and related legislation, the Administration made clear that the important task of protecting intellectual property online must not threaten an open and innovative internet (http://1.usa.gov/Nk5P1S).Smart grid: To build a 21st century electric system, the President led the charge to make over $4.5 billion in smart grid (http://smartgrid.gov) investments for electricity delivery and energy reliability modernization, along with new smart grid initiatives to empower consumers (http://wh.gov/DpJ), improve the reliability of the electric grid, and spur innovation.Patent system: President Obama signed the bipartisan America Invents Act (http://wh.gov/gOT) after nearly a decade of efforts to reform the nation’s outdated patent laws. The new law is helping entrepreneurs and inventors avoid costly delays and unnecessary litigation so they can focus instead on innovation and growth.Again, this list is not comprehensive—for more details, check out the White House Startup America Initiative (http://1.usa.gov/xmHjcs) and the President’s Strategy for American Innovation (http://1.usa.gov/9bT9XU). And I have barely touched on all the ways that President Obama has fostered massive innovation within government, from unprecedented use of prizes and challenges (http://wh.gov/ho3) to the new Presidential Innovation Fellows program (http://wh.gov/innovationfellows) that pairs top innovators from outside and inside government to implement cutting-edge solutions for the American people.To stay up to date on President Obama’s innovation agenda, you can follow me on Twitter @todd_park and @whitehouseostp.

Short answer: It doesn’t mean much.While there is a lot of hype that Tesla is a car company, this isn’t really true. The mission statement is to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. To that end, Tesla not just makes EV’s (users) but Solar Roofs (generation) and battery (storage). There is a reason that the word “Motors” was dropped from the overall company name and now is only used to refer to the EV division.So a more accurate comparison would be Tesla with Ford, Apple, Panasonic and First Solar all rolled into one. When viewed this way, Tesla still has a long way to go, but the potential is huge, over $1 Trillion market cap.Elon made the smart move of investing, reinvesting, borrowing and investing more in three key areas - R&D, manufacturing, and technical knowledge. Those investments are now paying off and Tesla continues to invest rather than dilute its path with dividends or extraneous expenses. For instance, Tesla spends $0 on advertising like TV, magazines or billboards. Ford spends about $4 billion a year. Imagine where Ford would be if that same $4 billion per year had been spent on R&D for EV research. For reference, Tesla only spent about $1.5 billion on R&D in 2018.Since EV’s are only a part of Tesla’s plan, there is still lots of markets to expand into - solar, energy storage, software and apps, in internet provider, subscription services etc. that haven’t even really been tapped yet.