High-Tech Guidance for the Government

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Education, privacy, and taxation should top the technology policy priorities of the federal government this year, suggests a high-tech trade association.

The AeA, formerly known as the American Electronics Association, submitted a report Tuesday to congressional leaders and President Bush's chief economic adviser, Lawrence Lindsey, detailing the group's public policy priorities for 2001.

The recommended policy priorities were based on suggestions from AeA member companies nationwide, says Chairman Richard Martin. Consumer concerns were central to each stage of the discussion, he says.

The AeA is composed of more than 3,500 companies in industries from software to telecommunications and considers itself "the voice of the technology industry for over 56 years."

"We're not policy experts, we're businesspeople and we deal in facts and data, so that means when we look at these issues we're coming from a consumer-oriented bias, and that gives us credibility with both legislators and consumers," Martin says.

Education on Top

Education tops AeA's priority list, as the group urges expanded government and industry support to upgrade science and math education at the K-12 level. The goal is to nurture the technologically skilled children of today so they can pursue university studies in technology and later work in the field. Increased funding and national teacher training standards are a way to accomplish this, AeA says.

"One of the things we're challenged on today is that we've got to graduate enough tech-proficient students to handle the future industry demand," says Bob Bigony, vice chair of AeA and president of Motorola, North America. "Every conversation we have ends up on education, how we need education to stay competitive in the global marketplace."

But privacy might be the most pressing priority addressed by AeA. The group advocates industry self-regulation and calls for the protection of users' personal information.

"The consumer is easily confused when you have lots of different systems of privacy," Martin says. "We're seeing a lot of interest in privacy legislation promulgated at the state level, and there's a sense of urgency in terms of federal preemption."

Unless the federal government creates general ground rules as to how privacy would be protected at the state level, Martin adds, there will be a hodgepodge of regulation nationwide that will hurt the consumer.

Martin says the AeA hasn't looked at specific legislation but will measure each bill against its privacy principles.

Taxing Situation

There is also no simple answer for the question of Internet taxation, says William Archey, AeA's president and chief executive.

AeA's report suggests that Congress pass an extension on the moratorium on new or discriminatory taxes on the Internet, now set to expire in October, permanently ban access taxes, and direct the states to simplify their sales tax rules.

"We won't have the luxury for much longer of looking at this as a domestic issue," he adds. "If the United States doesn't have a policy in place with a thoughtful privacy approach uniformly in place, we won't be able to effectively venture forth in the global marketplace."

The AeA doesn't think that regulation will work in the broadband market. The association asked Congress to refrain from regulating sectors that are being served by multiple providers, but to take measures to promote competition in sectors where there are service bottlenecks or barriers to entry.

Lindsey, Bush's chief economic adviser and formerly with the Federal Reserve Board, says the recommendations were in alignment with Bush's goals, according to Martin.

This is the first time in recent years that the AeA has issued policy priorities to the government, says Marc Brailov, public communications director of AeA.

Technology has been an increasingly important policy focus in Washington, demonstrated by the recent flood of proposed Internet privacy legislation and Bush's meeting with 16 industry executives in Texas earlier this month.