As the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show continued this week in Las Vegas, Nevada, discussions among tech industry leaders contributed to an overall sentiment that the U.S. is not doing enough to promote innovation and competition in a global marketplace that is quickly transitioning to an IP-centered economy.

Friday morning, CES president Gary Shapiro hosted an "Innovation Power Panel" featuring Cisco CEO John Chambers, GE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt and Xerox Chairwoman and CEO Ursula Burns.

The panel concurred that the U.S. suffers from misguided education and export practices, as well as a highly contentious immigration policy - all of which discourage domestic innovation and contribute to the outsourcing of jobs to emerging economies such as China and India.

For the U.S. to remain a global competitor in the global innovation economy, the panelists agreed, it needs to re-evaluate its system of high corporate and overseas profit taxes - practices that impede domestic investment.

"I never apologize for putting a factory in China if my growth is going to be in China," stressed Immelt. Indeed, Immelt's company, GE, has seen the opportunities in China and made moves to capitalize on them, recently announcing that the New York-based company will invest more than $2 billion in Chinese innovation over the next few years.

As CES concludes this weekend, many industry leaders will depart pleading for the U.S. to devote more energy toward these ever-evolving markets based on technology, innovation and intellectual assets.