5 Things the Tech Industry Wants the Next President to Do

The next president should institute a National Innovation Foundation to help commercialize promising new technology; create a White House Office of Innovation Review to make sure government regulations aren’t hindering tech development; and boost federal funding for science and engineering research by at least $30 billion a year.

Those are among the items on a tech wish list for 2016 candidates released June 17 by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.

The tech think tank also released its own mockup of a presidential speech the group hopes to hear, which laid out a step-by-step action plan to help transform the country into a flourishing hub of technological innovation.

Here’s part of the speech from the hypothetical candidate, talking specifically about federal IT policy:

Too many industries still lag behind in adopting IT. If we are going to ensure that all industries become digitally powered—using hardware, software, and advanced communications technologies to reengineer themselves—then the private sector will have to drive much of the process. But the federal government can and should play a supportive role. Smart federal policies can spur IT adoption in an array of industries, including transportation, energy, education, and, of course, government itself. The right policies also can foster the growth of new digital platforms such as mobile commerce, the Internet of Things, electronic identification, the smart electric grid, and intelligent transportation systems.

The ideal tech-friendly candidate would direct the Energy Department and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue incentives for utility companies investing in smart meters and require the Transportation Department “to make computer chips as important as concrete and pavement in our 21st-century surface transportation network,” according to the speech mockup.

In addition, every federal agency would be tasked with developing its own strategies dealing with the Internet of Things and data innovation “to infuse those technologies into the areas of the economy they touch and influence.”

The administration should also bring more tech talent into the country, according to ITIF’s wish list, by increasing H-1B visas, green cards and citizenship specifically for scientists and engineers living outside the U.S.

The innovation foundation extended an open invitation to political candidates and anyone else to reuse its speech.

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