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Innovation Agenda Calls for Action on Cybersecurity, Trade Promotion Authority, Tax Reform, Health IT, Next-Gen Broadband Infrastructure, and More

Arlington, Va. (Mar. 10, 2015) – The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the leading association representing the manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech communications networks, today released its 2015 Innovation Agenda, which identifies policy recommendations to advance tech and telecom innovation, and promote jobs and economic growth.

The Innovation Agenda outlines information and communications technology (ICT) priorities related to three high-level goals: 1) Drive Investment; 2) Accelerate Competitiveness and Access; and 3) Enable Forward-Looking Technologies. For each goal, TIA has identified specific policy positions it will advocate throughout 2015.

“The ICT industry is the backbone of global communications, and with remarkable new communications technologies now reshaping health care, transportation and more, our industry is playing an even more critical role in driving U.S. economic growth,” said TIA CEO Scott Belcher. “To ensure that the U.S. continues to lead the world in tech and telecom innovation, TIA will work with Congress and the Administration to promote policies that drive investment and technological advances.”

Belcher continued, “For ICT companies to meet and advance the needs of consumers and businesses, we need policy solutions that provide more access to spectrum, address cybersecurity threats, modernize trade laws, and more. In working with the industry on these issues, however, lawmakers must avoid unnecessary regulations that would stifle technological innovation and economic opportunity.”

The 2015 Innovation Agenda is available at this link.

The following outlines primary action items for each of the three key areas included in the Innovation Agenda. The full plan includes detailed recommendations in each of these areas.

Drive Investment:

• Provide economic and regulatory incentives for network deployments and upgrades.

• Pursue further reallocations of federal spectrum, flexible regulations, improved spectrum management among users, and rapid implementation of voluntary incentive auctions.

Accelerate Competitiveness and Access:

• Promote trade and investment through trade liberalization and a technology-neutral approach to regulation.

• Encourage health care systems to fully leverage the broad array of solutions available in the health information and communications technology ecosystem, including the devices, systems, software applications, and other technologies that store, share and analyze health information.

• Streamline and globally harmonize equipment authorizations.

• Promote voluntary, open, and consensus-based standardization processes in order to enhance global competitiveness.

• Improve access to advanced first-responder communications tools to advance public safety.

Enable Forward-Looking Technologies:

• Advance U.S. research and development through a permanent tax credit, multi-year federal research plans, immigration reform and other measures.

• Quickly enact broad corporate tax reform that helps put U.S. companies on equal footing globally.

• Enact information-sharing measures and other voluntary approaches to cybersecurity, while avoiding policies that could negatively impact investment in innovation, market access, interoperability and security of global networks.

• Drive spectrum availability through allocation of federal spectrum, flexible regulations and voluntary incentive auctions.

• Seek global advancements in cybersecurity and liability protections when sharing information to stave off cyber-attacks.

• Embrace smart grid, smart buildings and more to drive ICT’s potential to reduce energy consumption.

• Pursue intelligent transportation systems through pro-innovation and pro-competition policies that promote the societal and economic benefits of an advanced ITS ecosystem.

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