About seven in 10 U.S. residents believe the next great technology entrepreneur will come from somewhere else, according to a new poll.

Asked where the next Bill Gates will come from, 29 percent of respondents in a new Zogby International poll said the U.S., while 28 percent said India, 15 percent said China and 11 percent said Japan. But the poll, released Monday, also found 67 percent of U.S. residents saying they believe the economic, educational and societal conditions still exist in the U.S. for another entrepreneur like the Microsoft founder to emerge.

Those answers may raise questions about the U.S. environment for innovation and entrepreneurs, said some panelists at a forum on tech innovation hosted by Zogby and 463 Communications, a Washington, D.C., public relations firm. The U.S. still has some strong factors in its favor, including a robust venture-capital market and a high-quality university system, but it also faces some challenges, said Donnie Fowler, a Democratic campaign strategist and tech entrepreneur.

But the U.S. is also losing foreign graduates of its universities to their home countries, has failed to revamp and make permanent a research and development tax credit, and has not adequately invested in all levels of education, he said. Despite those problems, the U.S. continues to have the most entrepreneurial culture in the world, he said.

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Tags: innovation, technology, leadership, entrepreneurship

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