CSPP Recommendations
Recommendation #1:Forge a New Partnership to:
- Harmonize Trade and Technology Policy
- Speed Time to Market
In a global economy, the success of the U.S. computer industry
depends more than ever on its ability to deliver products to
market quickly.
But government policies often hamper that effort.
U.S. antidumping law, export control policies and other
international trade regulations and government procurement
practices are trailing changes in technology and the market.
To remain a world technology leader, the U.S. must harmonize
its trade and technology policies.
CSPP urges the Administration and Congress to work with
industry to create a task force to identify policies and
practices that harm leading U.S. high-technology industries.
This task force, led by the National Economic Council, would
analyze current government policies and propose changes which
would:
- enable timely access to the best products and technology
available globally;
- continually update export control laws and streamline
procedures for processing export license applications;
- accelerate government procurement processes emphasizing
cutting-edge commercial products;
- foster an environment that encourages business growth;
- promote and simplify the use of Cooperative Research and
Development Agreements (CRADAs); and
- facilitate domestic and international strategic alliances.
Ideally, this task force would also serve as an ongoing forum
for review and analysis of government policies which have the
potential to disrupt the balance between the country's trade and
technology policy objectives and hamper a company's time to market.
Quote -- James E. Ousley, President, Control Data Systems --
"Maintaining U.S. international competitiveness demands that our
government ensure worldwide access to markets and technologies and
promote, not restrict, exports of high technology products.
Recommendation #2: Establish Open Markets Worldwide
The ability to sell products and access technology worldwide is
essential to our industry's continued success. That is why the
U.S. Government must aggressively push other countries to open
their borders to free trade.
At the same time, the U.S. Government must ensure that its own
policies and practices enable leading U.S. industries to sell
their products in every available market.
CSPP recommends that the government work toward open markets
worldwide by:
- ensuring that the Japanese government effectively implement
its 1992 agreement to open its public sector computer market
to foreign products and services;
- ensuring that the Japanese government implements the
provisions of the 1990 Revised Supercomputer Procurement
Agreement;
- continually updating export control laws and streamlining
procedures for processing export license applications and
eliminating unilateral controls;
- successfully concluding the Uruguay Round of Trade
Negotiations;
- approving and implementing the North American Free Trade
Agreement; and
- urging Japan to continue progress under the 1991 Semiconductor
Trade Agreement.
Quote -- Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Chairman & CEO, IBM --
"Continually bringing competitive products to market in the
fast-paced global environment requires access to the best
technology, products, and people from all over the world.
Recommendation #3: Facilitate Accelerated Deployment of an Enhanced NII
An enhanced NII will put communications, computers, and other
technology to work for all citizens who want and need access
to information, whether for work, health care, education, job
training, or entertainment.
It will also:
- stimulate the creation of new ideas that are essential to
maintaining a strong economy;
- spark new world-class industries; and
- create as much as $300 billion annually in new sales across
a range of industries.
As CSPP outlined it its January 1993 report, Perspectives on the
National Information Infrastructure, the government must work
with industry to:
- develop a national vision and measurable goals for the NII;
- invest in pre-competitive, generic research needed for the NII;
- link applications research to the NII vision;
- strengthen High Performance Computing and Communications and
applications research program management;
- develop a plan to address NII policy issues with special
emphasis on open competition and interoperability issues;
- establish a mechanism for private sector input;
- develop a plan to create a human resource infrastructure; and
- ensure international cooperation in developing an NII.
Quote -- Robert E. Allen, Chairman & CEO, AT&T -- "The public and
private sectors have important roles in making the enhanced
information infrastructure a reality. Development and deployment
of the infrastructure must be led by the private sector, guided
by the forces of a free and open market. The Federal Government
must accelerate its implementation by acting as a catalyst and a
coordinator."
Quote -- Lewis E. Platt, CEO, Hewlett-Packard -- The NII will
spawn thousands of information products and services,
capitalizing on U.S. strengths in key technologies and the
willingness of American entrepreneurs to seize the limitless
opportunities that will exist."
Recommendation #4: Improve Federal R&D Spending Priorities and Incentives
The nation's return on the federal R&D investment could be
boosted significantly if government and industry set common
priorities for R&D. Such a partnership would also help U.S.
high-technology firms maintain their competitive edge, enabling
them to bring products to market more quickly.
CSPP looks forward to working with the Federal Government to:
- Increase the Allocation of Funds to Commercially Relevant
Technologies. The Federal Government should continue its
strong support for basic research and work with industry to
reallocate, over the next four years, $10 billion more per
year of its total R&D budget to research on pre-competitive,
generic technologies.
- Improve Federal R&D Budget Review Mechanisms and Increase
Industry Involvement. The government should continue working
with the private sector to develop and refine crosscuts of
federal spending on generic technologies essential to
improved U.S. economic competitiveness. CSPP also recommends
creating private sector advisory panels with full
participation in setting federal R&D priorities.
- Improve Government Incentives for Private R&D. The U.S.
Government should:
- pass the new R&D tax credit legislation which makes the
credit permanent and improves its provisions so more
businesses are encouraged to increase R&D; and
- permanently resolve the Internal Revenue Code's 861-8
research allocation issue.
Quote -- Robert B. Palmer, President & CEO, Digital Equipment --
Working together, industry and government can improve the
effectiveness of the federal R&D investment by re-focusing
spending on pre-competitive, generic technologies with commercial
relevance.
Change / Public Policy