U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar held an"Innovation Summit" on Tuesday to discuss ideas and strategies to revitalize the country's competitive edge.

Klobuchar discussed her "National Innovation Agenda" at the event held at the University of Minnesota. She called for cutting red tape for the nation's top 20 exporting industries; encouraging more education in science, math, technology and engineering; trying to retain foreign students in these fields in the U.S., and extending a tax credit that supports research and development.

"If we're not investing in the future, if we're not continually striving to move forward, then we're moving behind," Klobuchar said.

A panel of business people also highlighted other issues they believe is hurting the nation's innovation prospects.

Bill Hawkins, Medtronic's CEO, said in his years of involvement in the medical device industry, he can't remember a time that has been more challenging than today. Hawkins referred to a recent report by PwC. My colleague Janet Moore wrote in an article published in Tuesday's paper, that the report says China, Brazil and India will have the strongest gains in the next-generation lifesaving products in the next decade because capital, jobs and research will move toward those markets.

"We need a regulatory environment that is strong, timely, consistent and predictable. (One) that appropriately balances risk versus benefits," Hawkins said. "The pendulum has swung too far."

Meanwhile, Joy Lindsay, president of private venture capital fund StarTec Investments, pointed out that although initial public offerings for companies are improving, a large chunk of the investment dollars are going abroad. Last quarter, there were 32 IPOs that benefited from U.S. venture funds and 17 of them were Chinese firms, Lindsay said.