WASHINGTON (June 10, 2013) - The United States Senate will vote on a new ten-year farm bill this evening. In response Val Giddings, Senior Fellow with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), releases the following statement:

"While the Senate bill with its continued unnecessary crop insurance subsidies for farmers is far from perfect, it is important to note its focus on continued public investment in agricultural research, which will enhance economic development and improve our global response to climate change.

The current bill would bring modest increases to the USDA's competitive grants research program, and perhaps more importantly, would establish a vehicle to enable and strengthen public/private partnerships in R&D through the establishment of a Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR). Public investments in agricultural  research have produced among the highest returns of any public sector expenditures, and expanded investment in federal agricultural research programs will further business development and innovation in this important sector.

In addition, continued focus on agricultural innovation will advance efforts to create more climate resilient crops with higher yields. As ITIF has noted, the challenges to the world's food supply caused by climate change and population growth will require the production of more food, feed and fiber in the next 40 years than the sum total of all harvests since the dawn of agriculture. The only mechanism for possibly reaching this goal is the continued investment in plant genetics and genetically modified organisms to develop next generation crops and seeds that can meet this increased demand.

The current farm bill is a step in the right direction to address these challenges. However, future agricultural policy must focus even more specifically on agricultural R&D if we are to maximize agricultural innovation."

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. Learn more at www.itif.org.

WASHINGTON - (June 3, 2013) The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is in crisis, after losing almost $30 billion in the last three years and exhausting its $15 billion federal borrowing authority. Tinkering around the edges won't save USPS. Fundamental changes to the postal model itself are required. "Postal Reform for the Digital Age," a new report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), seeks to address the challenges the USPS faces by recommending a new paradigm for the mail system where the Postal Service evolves into predominately a "final mile" mail delivery service, with private competitors assuming responsibility for other aspects of the production chain, including collection, processing, and transport.

"As the Internet has transformed how we communicate, from E-cards to electronic bill payment to document transfer, the traditional postal model is outmoded," notes Robert Atkinson, President of ITIF and author of the report. "Continued digital migration will mean continued financial challenges for USPS unless Congress drives systemic reforms that allow the Postal Service to focus on what it does best, delivering the mail, with all other services opened up to competition."

To accomplish this transformation, Congress should require the USPS to work with the Postal Regulatory Commission, which sets mail rates, to establish a delivery price for final route sort and delivery, including for first class mail. Congress should also give USPS greater authority to close facilities including post offices, reduce delivery days, and lay off workers.

Under this new system, private companies, such as Fed Ex or UPS would be able to bid for transportation and sorting contracts and regional centers, while drop off locations in places like pharmacies would replace underutilized Post Offices.  
"Some advocates have argued that the Postal Service can be saved by allowing USPS to get into new lines of business or by providing government subsidies, while others have argued the entire system should be privatized. Neither of these is in the best interests of taxpayers," Atkinson adds. "We should ensure that all citizens have access to mail delivery, something the USPS does best, but also recognize that in the digital era the Postal Service as it now exists needs to be systemically transformed."

Read the report.

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. Learn more at www.itif.org.

WASHINGTON (May 21, 2013) - The 2008 "Great Recession" was one of the largest economic crises in the history of modern capitalism, and numerous researchers and analysts have sought to determine the reasons for the downturn to ensure it never happens again.

In their new book Masters of Nothing: Human Nature, Big Finance, and the Fight for the Soul of Capitalism, Matthew Hancock and Nadhim Zahawi argue that a collective failure to understand human nature was one of the main causes of the crisis. The authors, who both serve as Conservative Members of Parliament in Great Britain, argue similar crises will happen again unless policymakers radically rethink their assumptions to accommodate the inevitable flaws and irrationality of individuals, banks, and the economy as a whole.

The Information Technology and Information Foundation (ITIF) will host a U.S. release event for Masters of Nothing from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM Tuesday, May 28 at ITIF, 1101 K Street NW, Suite 610A. The event will feature a panel discussion with the authors and Joe Kennedy, former Chief Economist with the U.S. Department of Commerce, which will analyze the corporate and government policies, as well as the actions of organizations and individuals, that led to the collapse.

"Masters of Nothing provides an antidote to the neoclassical economic theories which led pre-crisis policy astray and continue to be inadequate in explaining the current global economic environment," notes Robert Atkinson, President of ITIF and moderator of the event. 

Matthew Hancock was first elected to Parliament in 2010 and currently serves as Britain's Minister of Skills. Nadhim Zahawi has also served in Parliament since 2010 and sits on the House of Commons' Business, Innovation and Skills Committee.

Learn more about the event.

Register for the event.

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. Learn more at www.itif.org.

WASHINGTON (May 20, 2013) - In anticipation of tomorrow's Senate Subcommittee on Investigations hearing, "Offshore Profit Shifting and the U.S. Tax Code," which will feature Apple CEO Tim Cook, Robert Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), releases the following statement:

"America is in a global race for innovation advantage and policy makers around the world are enacting forward-thinking policies to make their nations more attractive for global investment. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on the reforms the U.S. needs to keep pace, some policymakers focus on blaming corporations for choosing to move jobs offshore or legally deferring foreign profits to reduce their tax burden.

Blame is not a strategy. Shame is not a policy. Instead of berating U.S. companies for being unpatriotic, Congress would be better advised to put in place the comprehensive changes needed to make the U.S. economy more competitive, including a lower effective corporate tax rate, expansion of the R&D tax credit and enhanced government investment in research and technology development. These actions constitute a real competitiveness strategy that would have real results." 

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. Learn more at www.itif.org.     

WASHINGTON - (May 16, 2013) The United States faces significant workforce challenges, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, and high-skill immigration is a key avenue for addressing this issue.

In the new report, "The Real Story on Guestworkers in the High-skill, U.S. Labor Market," the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) presents a detailed point-by-point rebuttal of the findings of a recent Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report which claims to show that there is no STEM worker shortage. The ITIF study presents a comprehensive analysis to create a more accurate picture of the high-skill labor market. ITIF's analysis shows that the EPI report's conclusions are simply not supported by the evidence.

"The EPI analysis suffers from a number of major flaws including the misinterpretation of education data, selective review of a few poorly-performing IT occupations, and a misreading of the operation of the IT labor market," states Robert Atkinson, President of ITIF. "Our report attempts to create a clearer picture of the high-skill labor market and the policy reforms that are required to address the significant innovation policy issues facing our nation."

ITIF's findings indicate the United States is not producing enough STEM workers to meet demand, STEM jobs and wages, particularly in IT occupations, are growing, and the domestic IT labor market is not depressed by the presence of high-skill guestworkers. In fact, high-skill guestworkers are filling a need given the shortage of American STEM graduates and serve as a complement, not a substitute, for American workers in technology-based industries. For example, as ITIF has previously reported, from 1997 to 2009 the number of U.S. high school students taking the advanced placement (AP) test for music theory grew by 362 percent while the numbers taking the computer science AP test grew by only 12 percent.

"STEM jobs are growing faster than non-STEM jobs, particularly in IT occupations, but there are not enough U.S. graduates to fill these slots, even though overall IT wages have grown faster than average U.S. wages," Atkinson adds. "High-skill immigration needs to be a key component of our nation's talent strategy, at least until we do a better job of producing more domestic STEM graduates."

ITIF previously announced its support of comprehensive immigration reform now being considered by Congress and, in particular, specific measures to enhance high skill immigration and help produce more domestic STEM graduates. These include an easier path to green cards for foreign recipients of STEM graduate degrees, a near doubling of the H-1B Visa cap (the temporary visa for high skill workers,) and increased visa fees dedicated to STEM education programs.

"The United States is in an increasingly robust competition with nations around the globe for the best talent and technical capacity, and America risks falling further behind if we do not attract the world's best engineers, scientists and innovators," Atkinson says.

To view the full ITIF report click here.     

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. Learn more at www.itif.org.

WASHINGTON - (May 16, 2013) 3-D printers create physical objects from digital models by laying down (i.e. "printing") successive layers of materials. Using a 3-D printer and the relevant digital blueprints, consumers can create many different items-even items that may have been difficult or illegal to obtain in the past such as undetectable, untraceable hand guns.

Should Government Regulate Illicit Uses of 3-D Printing, a new report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), examines the use of 3-D printing, the implications for public safety and intellectual property, and the policy recommendations needed to address the issue.

"Just as the Internet made it possible for anyone to be a publisher, 3-D printing makes it possible for anyone to be a manufacturer," says Daniel Castro, senior analyst with ITIF. "This means that rather than regulating a much smaller number of businesses, governments may suddenly be faced with regulating a much larger number of consumers."

In the report Castro argues that although 3-D printing opens up new practical challenges, especially around enforcement, the policy questions are not substantively different than for other technologies. Policymakers should encourage innovation in 3-D printing, while also ensuring that there are strong enforcement mechanisms to punish those who would engage in illicit uses of the technology.

Castro adds, "Most technologies can be used for negative purposes, steel can be used to make knives that can then be used as weapons, but that does not mean the government should regulate us back to the Stone Age."

Read the report.

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. Learn more at www.itif.org.

WASHINGTON (May 9, 2013) - Surveillance video technology, from speed cameras to building monitoring systems, is becoming ubiquitous on American streets and neighborhoods. Privacy and civil libertarian groups have criticized the use of these technologies as an unjust intrusion on the privacy of law-abiding citizens, while supporters argue surveillance cameras are a valuable tool for law enforcement and serve as a criminal deterrent.

The Information Technology and Information Foundation (ITIF) will examine the ethical, legal and political ramifications of surveillance camera use and discuss potential policy reforms that can enhance the positive impacts of the technology while mitigating negative consequences. The panel discussion will be held from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM, Wednesday, May 22 at ITIF, 1101 K Street NW, Suite 610 A.

"Surveillance video has been essential in numerous criminal investigations, most recently in the hunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects," notes Daniel Castro, Senior Analyst at ITIF. "However, the use of this technology does need to be closely monitored to ensure that privacy is protected and the safety benefits are realized. Through this event we hope to highlight the main policy questions regarding camera use and analyze how governments can balance the goals of public safety and personal liberty."

The event will be moderated by Carrie Johnson, Justice Correspondent for National Public Radio. Participants include Paul Rosenberg, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Homeland Security, Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst for the American Civil Liberties Union, and Julian Sanchez, Research Fellow with the Cato Institute. 

To learn more about the event or to register visit, http://www.itif.org/events/surveillance-cameras-helpful-or-harmful. 

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. Learn more at www.itif.org.

WASHINGTON (May 7, 2013) – The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) commends the White House for its anticipated selection of Nicole Wong as a senior White House advisor for Internet and privacy policy. The proposed position would work with the U.S. Chief Technology Officer to oversee privacy operations and advise the President on a host of pressing issues regarding information sharing, data innovation and the digital economy. Wong is currently the legal director for Twitter and former Deputy General Counsel at Google.

“We are pleased to see that the White House has tapped someone for this new role with a background in the tech sector and experience protecting individuals’ personal information from overly broad law enforcement requests,” says Daniel Castro, Senior Analyst with ITIF. “It is our hope that Ms. Wong will use her new position to advocate for sensible privacy policies that foster, rather than hinder, innovation.”

ITIF has noted a number of concrete steps that Congress and the Administration can take in the short term to protect both privacy and innovation:

• Reforming ECPA so data in the cloud is treated the same as data on a PC.

• Developing a privacy R&D roadmap.

• Creating a data policy office in the Department of Commerce that focuses on maximizing the benefits of data-driven innovation.

“The digital economy provides a tremendous benefit to society as a whole,” Castro adds. “By addressing privacy in the context of innovation we can ensure the continued growth and success of the sector moving forward.”

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About ITIF

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. 

ITIF publishes policy reports, holds forums and policy debates, advises elected officials and their staffs, and is an active resource for the media. It develops new and creative policy proposals, analyzes existing policy issues through the lens of bolstering innovation and productivity, and opposes policies that hinder digital transformation and innovation.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 2006.

WASHINGTON (May 9, 2013) - The Obama Administration is  expected to announce today the expansion of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) with the creation of three new institutes which will combine industry, government, and academic resources to spur technology development and adoption for key U.S. manufacturing industries. The new centers will join the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute in Youngstown, OH which was created in August of 2012.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has been a strong proponent of innovation policies designed to spur manufacturing competitiveness and praises President Obama for his commitment to American manufacturing innovation. ITIF also calls on Congress to approve the Administration's proposed $1 billion appropriation for the creation of at least 15 NNMI centers across the country.

"As ITIF has noted, American manufacturing faces significant innovation-related competitiveness challenges that are the central reason for past and present U.S. economic difficulties. Expanding NNMI will provide the coordinated technical capacity and research infrastructure pivotal for developing the novel processes, products and businesses to keep manufacturers in America at the cutting edge," says Robert Atkinson, President of ITIF.  "Furthermore, while the Administration's announcement today is important, Congress needs to approve and fund a national NNMI program that can provide broader benefits to American manufacturing as a whole."

The new NNMI centers are expected to include institutes on digital manufacturing and lightweight materials, both operated by the Department of Defense as well as a center dedicated to next generation power electronics managed by the Department of Energy.

"Like semiconductors before it, next-generation power electronics will be the fundamental breakthrough technology behind a more resilient smart electricity grid and more energy efficient electronics across a range of industries developing in the United States, from electric vehicles to renewable power," notes Matthew Stepp, ITIF Senior Policy Analyst. "The announced Innovation Institute for Power Electronics is a key step to maintaining American leadership in this growing industry sector."

The National Network for Manufacturing Innovation was announced by President Obama in March of 2012 with the goals of strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers, initiating new ventures, and boosting regional and national economic growth.

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. Learn more at www.itif.org.

WASHINGTON (May 9, 2013) - In response to the announcement today that President Obama has issued an executive order to make more government data open and accessible, ITIF Senior Analyst Daniel Castro issues the following statement:

"We live in an era in which massive amounts of information are collected, analyzed, integrated and disseminated in novel ways to make the world a better place. Data is driving innovation and growth in virtually every industry, from health care to transportation. Creating better methods for utilizing this information will be a key to the continuing evolution of the digital economy. 

Today's executive order will make the enormous volume of data generated by the federal government more accessible for entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators across the country. The enhanced utilization of this information will greatly improve the development and deployment of new data innovation technologies, while also increasing novel product development and new business creation.

We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to pursue additional strategies to leverage data to improve government, enhance quality of life, and grow our economy. In addition, we hope today's announcement will spur state and local governments to create similar policies to further unleash the potential benefits of data."  

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. Learn more at www.itif.org.