Marc Andreessen: Turn Detroit Into Drone Valley

Agreed. Make Robocop a reality in Detroit. They need it now, more than ever.

I would request that Mr. Andreessen ensure that the companies that he invests in are transparent & ethical with their interactions, particularly with the US Government.

Drones can be a wonderful tool to empower us. They can also be a powerful tool to enslave us. Skynet anyone?

Some sort of effective regulation is probably necessary. Not the kind of regulation involving a former/future Drone Manufacturing executive/lobbist being the chair of the regulatory body.

>Provide incentives to attract scientists, firms and users;

> Establish a favorable business environment and regulations.

> Except … this approach to innovation clusters hasn’t really worked. Some have even dismissed these government-driven efforts as “modern-day snake oil.”

I would argue that such an approach has never actually been attempted only lip service has been paid. The types of solutions you describe above are politically untenable because they involve significantly lowering taxes.

I would say that Nevada is an example of a place where this kind of approach has worked. Look at Las Vegas it's a metropolis that sprung up out of nowhere in the middle of a vast desert wasteland. Maybe Michigan could learn a thing or two from Nevada and begin by lowering it's state income tax to 0%.

The prophecy must be fulfilled.

Joking aside, the reasoning behind choosing Detroit in real life isn't much different than OCP choosing it in the movies. The city's broke, has crime problems, and you sell people on the idea of bringing it back to it's former glory.

Detroit has a myriad of problems, but I think this could be great for the city. A big problem with Detroit is that it's a huge city, but a lot of people have left, so there are whole neighborhoods with only a few residents. This makes it hard common government services such as garbage pick up and police force to cover the whole city. The government could provide incentives for any entrepreneurs willing to come to Detroit and help solve these problems using drones and/or autonomous cars. The pay off would be huge on both sides. Autonomous cars would especially click with the culture in Detroit too, being that it is the motor city.