Goolsbee and Chopra Highlight Administration Innovation Policies

WASHINGTON March 9, 2011 - The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation brought government officials and business executives Wednesday to discuss the Obama administration’s innovation policies.

“Investments we make today will affect the success of our economy tomorrow,” said Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Austan Goolsbee as he began the talk.

Goolsbee then went on to outline the President’s goal of improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Improving STEM education, he said, is a necessary factor to create the innovators of the future. He then compared the President’s plan to expand wireless access to the infrastuctrue projects of the 1920s

“Having nationwide wireless access to the internet," said the Chairman, "will spur on innovation in the same way that electricity did.”

In addition to improving the education system, Goolsbee supported the need for patent reform, saying that the current application system, which can take as long as 3 years to process, is "just unacceptable.”

Bill Nuti, CEO of NCR Corporation, agreed, saying that waiting three years for patents “makes them essentially obsolete”.

“We rely on patents and global intellectual property protections to continue to grow our business,” said Microsoft’s Vice President of Technology Policy and Strategy, Daniel Reed.

Chief Technology Officer of the United States, Aneesh Chopra, also spoke at the event, highlighting the administration’s commitment to innovation through its plans to extend the Research and Development Tax credit. Chopra also reiterated the need for expanding STEM education.