By Alex Kantrowitz, Contributor

The White House acknowledged the ascending Maker movement Thursday, engaging movement leaders in a Google+ Hangout and expressing enthusiasm for the movement’s potential to spark the American manufacturing industry. Hosted by White House innovation advisor Tom Kalil, the Hangout focused on the nature of the movement– it encourages people not just to consume but build their own products as well– and how it could help catalyze American manufacturing. The movement has been a growing force of late. Its flagship event, Maker Faire, drew a combined 165,000 people in just its New York and San Francisco locations in 2012. Many thousands more participated in “Mini Maker Faires” across the globe, all with the purpose of creating new products or watching others demo theirs. Outside of Maker Faire, the movement has also spurred the creation of “Makerspaces” across the country, i.e. physical spaces where “Makers” are encouraged to come and create products with available tools and training. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest