October 10, 2008
03:10 pm | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment
There has been substantial debate recently whether DARPA - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - still effectively spurs U.S. technological innovation.
On Tuesday, September 14, The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation will host Dr. Erica Fuchs of Carnegie Mellon University for a presentation on DARPA's role in U.S. technological innovation.
Dr. Fuchs will discuss the results of a new study examining the role of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) between 1992 and the present on innovation in the United States. In recent years, there has been rising concern over the ability of the United States to remain competitive in the global economy. In particular, the shift of the U.S. innovation system away from vertically integrated firms with large R&D labs, toward networked firms with interdependent technologies has created new challenges for cross-firm coordination and long-term innovation. These challenges raise important questions on the appropriate and most successful roles for federal programs within this framework.
To shed insights into these questions, Dr. Fuchs unpacks the processes by which DARPA traditionally had great success in influencing technology development, and assesses the implications of recent changes in DARPA for its effectiveness within the new innovation ecosystem. Dr. Fuchs’ study focuses on DARPA’s Microsystems Technology office, and its role in technology development in photonics, microelectronics, and other technologies supporting Moore’s Law. Drawing on in-depth field interviews of DARPA program managers, as well as additional interviews of technologists within the five established computing firms, start-ups, universities and government institutions, Dr. Fuchs provides fresh insights into the role of DARPA, how that role can be improved, and what the implications are for federal innovation policy.
All are invited to attend to this public Breakfast Forum at ITIF's offices at 1250 Eye Street NW, Suite #200, in Washington, D.C. from 9:00am to 10:30am on Tuesday, October 14. After the event, we'll share presentation slides and a link to video of the presentation through this blog.
- Rob Atkinson, ITIF
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October 10, 2008
01:16 pm | 0 recommendations | 3 comments
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation has been tracking Barack Obama and John McCain's positions on innovation and technology policy for some months. In September, ITIF released a report Comparing the Candidates' Technology and Innovation Policies which examined the candidates' positions on a variety of issues, including taxes, education, trade, intellectual property, digital transformation, skilled workforce, and innovation and broadband policy issues.
The report found the overall orientation of John McCain’s innovation policy agenda focused on proposals for creating a favorable environment for private sector innovation through a clear and less burdensome tax code, limited government regulation, and a strong trade, immigration, and competitiveness agenda. By comparison, Obama’s policies recognize the private sector as the central source of economic growth and prosperity and appreciate the need to create a favorable regulatory, tax, and investment climate for it, but also affirm that government can play a proactive and constructive role in helping the private sector commercialize its innovations.
There was some conversation about technology and innovation-related issues in Tuesday night's Second Presidential Debate. Both candidates reiterated the importance of developing green technologies and alternative energy sources. McCain spoke of the need for hybrid, hydrogen, and battery-powered vehicles, which would contribute to cleaning up the environment and creating jobs.
Obama argued that there should be a national approach to creating a new energy economy, likening the approach to, "the same way the computer was originally invented by a group of government scientists."
Obama argued that, "We're going to have to come up with alternative [energy technologies], and that means that the United States government is working with the private sector to fund the kind of innovation that we can then export to countries like China that need energy and are setting up one coal power plant a week."
For his part, when a debate participant asked John McCain whether the United States, "should fund a Manhattan Plan-like project for alternative energy or fund 100,000 [startup-like] garages across America - the kind that drove innovation in Silicon Valley," McCain responded that he supported, "pure [basic] research and development investment on the part of the U.S. government [but that] once it gets into the productive stages, we ought to turn it over to the private sector."
Later in the debate, Obama strongly advocated the need to "use information technology so that medical records are actually on computers instead of you filling out forms in triplicate when you go to the hospital." On the campaign trail, Obama has aggressively supported health IT, and has pledged to allocate $50B over ten years to move the U.S. healthcare system toward broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records. In the debate, McCain also noted he supports putting health records online, and expected doing so would help prevent medical errors.
For a comprehensive comparison of the candidates' technology and innovation policies, click here.
Guest blogged by Stephen Ezell, ITIF
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October 10, 2008
09:41 am | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment
Hello and welcome to Washington Watch. I'm Rob Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation in Washington, DC. We're excited to come aboard as Fast Company expert bloggers on the topic of innovation and information technology policy. ITIF is a non-partisan think tank that has been working for two and a half years to formulate and promote public policies that advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states.
At least once a week on this blog we’ll bring you the latest news from Washington, the states, and around the globe on public policies and institutions that are driving innovation-led economic growth. We'll look at the candidates’ policies on innovation and technology policy, monitor and report as the next President begins to implement his innovation and technology agenda, and bring you the latest from the world of innovation economics - a new movement in the field of economics that seeks to succeed neo-classical and neo-Keynesian economics by developing economic growth models that intentionally account for the effects of technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship and argues that countries should implement innovation-led economic policies.
We'll also look at how digital transformation is transforming our quality of life in virtually all aspects of society, from education to health care to personal and public safety. And we'll report how information technology is transforming and driving innovations in government, commerce, and transportation.
We're pleased for you to join this conversation with us. We welcome your feedback and suggestions for topics to cover on the blog – and look forward to the dialogue.
Sincerely,
Rob Atkinson
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