The Administration should task the Federal CIO with redesigning business.gov and undertaking a strategic design review of the federal and state small business registration process, redesigning it to create an integrated business registration Website encompassing both federal and state requirements and contemplating the entire lifecycle of needs for small business start-ups, thus creating a one-stop shop for business registration in the United States. In addition to federal requirements, the portal would incorporate all states’ business registration requirements into an integrated one-stop system. The registrant would need only to visit a single Website to register his or her business both with the Federal government and the relevant state government. The redesigned business registration process would also contemplate the entire lifecycle of needs and concerns for the small businesses. For example, it would bring information forward to the registrant about whether there are loan programs the business is eligible for, such as relevant Small Business Administration (SBA) or Economic Development Agency (EDA) loans, or information about lines of credit from local commercial lenders.

Policymakers constantly struggle with finding the right balance for regulations that improve citizen welfare while not causing undue burdens on the private sector. Certainly some regulations are useful; however, some may be inefficient or harmful. In our current economic environment, it is critical that government better understand the impact of regulations on economic growth and innovation. As such, it is time to give policymakers better tools to get the job done. ITIF recommends that the Obama administration modernize Regulations.gov to better collect public input on regulations that impede economic growth and innovation.

One key to driving innovation through procurement is to support open standards architectures. By adopting technologies that are interoperable with non-federal applications, federal procurement can help drive widespread adoption. Requiring transit agencies to deploy contactless fare payment systems that are interoperable with those of other transit agencies around the country would allow passengers to easily pay for ridership in different public transportation systems across the country with a single smart card. (For example, commuters could use their WMATA SmarTrip card to make payments on New York’s MTA subway system, or vice versa.)

One key to driving innovation through procurement is to support open standards architectures. By adopting technologies that are interoperable with non-federal applications, federal procurement can help drive widespread adoption. An open architecture would allow these cards to house electronic wallet applications that would, for example, let employees load a contactless payment application issued by transit authorities so they would not have to have a separate SmarTrip card to ride the Washington, D.C. metro system (or those of other transit authorities). The functionality would be integrated into one single card, which could also support other functions, such as a debit card to pay for meals in government cafeterias or fees in parking garages.

For example, the Government Services Administration should commit to installing contactless point of sale terminals in all cafeterias and parking garages it directly operates in government agencies and facilities. Installing contactless point of sale terminals in federal facilities would promote the adoption and use of mobile contactless payment technologies while saving money, since contactless POS terminals reduce the need for attended checkout stations.