House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee Issues Testimony From ITIC
"Chairman Latta, Ranking Member Schakowsky, and Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the critical importance of digital trade to
"ITI is the global voice of the tech sector and we appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony on global digital trade. ITI members participate in and power digital trade across the globe. They manufacture hardware, develop software, create online content and platforms, provide services, and are key partners of companies of every size and across every industry that rely on digital technologies to further their business operations. Governments are also increasingly important customers for our members, as technology allows governments to reach more citizens with services and creates efficiencies within their operations. As the premier advocacy and policy organization for the world's leading innovation companies, ITI navigates the relationships between policymakers, companies, and non-governmental organizations, providing creative solutions that advance the development and use of technology around the world. ITI's testimony will focus on describing: 1) "digital trade," 2) its importance to the
What is "Digital Trade?"
"It is important to be clear about what we mean when we say "digital trade." The
"In other words, digital trade is exceptionally broad. Technology companies such as
Why is Digital Trade Important to the
"
* Global digital trade is growing quickly as Internet usage is increasingly cloud-based. Four
* Global e-commerce grew from
* Internet usage is increasingly moving to the cloud. Using industry data, the Commission estimates that 70 percent of all 2015 global Internet traffic went through cloud data centers--a striking increase from 2011, when only 30 percent went through those centers.
*
* Global e-commerce grew from
"The most important message I would like to convey to you today is that the internet, digital technologies, and, therefore, digital trade, are fundamental to the competitiveness and success of
"While the economic value generated by technology companies is incredibly significant (they employ over 6.9 million Americans -- 5 percent of private sector employment -- and account for 7.5 percent of
"
"Business owners across the
"Let me give a few concrete examples of companies using our technologies and innovations in their business operations:
*
* AeroFarms:
*
*
"In light of these examples, it is clear that
*
*
*
*
*
"In other words, digital trade is about much more than technology policy. It is about how business is done in the 21st century and, by extension, the opportunities that we in
What are the Risks to Digital Trade?
"Just as opportunities for digital trade support
"Both ITI members and companies across the
"A globally competitive technology sector that benefits the
"The problem is not that governments are seeking to address the public policy issues raised by an increasingly digital world. Indeed, many of the stated motivations behind governments' policy choices are legitimate ones. It is appropriate, for example, for governments to work to ensure national security and public safety, support economic growth and job creation, and protect people's privacy and personal information. The problem is that, even when they have the right motivations, governments are too often pursuing the wrong policies. In other cases, governments are using legitimate motivations as smokescreens for protectionist efforts to advantage their own firms.
"Consider the steps that
"Or take the example of the many developing countries that are restricting data flows and requiring localization measures in hopes that this will stimulate their domestic economic development:
* A number of Indonesian measures, including its "Information and Electronic Transaction Law" and "Government Regulation 82," require that any company providing internet-enabled services to locate its data centers domestically.
*
*
"With such measures, governments not only work against their own economic policy interests by depriving their firms, workers, and consumers of cutting-edge technologies, products, and opportunities, they also effectively prevent American companies and small businesses from selling their products and services to hundreds of millions of people overseas.
"A final example concerns the recent efforts of the
"What can we do to Maximize the Benefits of Digital Trade to
"We are at an inflection point in our policy choices about digital trade. Given the rapid pace of technological innovation, governments around the world are having to make choices about the regulatory structures that they want for the movement of digital information across borders. In our view, as discussed above, many governments are making the wrong choices. Whether for valid reasons or as pretexts for protectionism, many economies are imposing barriers to the movement of data and related economic activity that not only harm their own growth and development prospects, but also undermine the competitiveness of
"
Conclusion
"In that regard, it is worth recalling the three broad priorities that we identified for the Administration earlier this year, priorities that we would welcome
* New Rules. A globally competitive technology sector that benefits the
* Enforcement. It is also critical that the
* Resources. To advance successful negotiating and enforcement agendas, we advocate that the
* * *
Footnotes:
1
2
3
4
5 Business Roundtable report on "Putting Data to Work": http://businessroundtable.org/sites/default/files/reports/BRT%20PuttingDataToWork.pdf
6
7 See
8 https://www.bea.gov/scb/pdf/2016/05%20May/0516_trends_%20in_us_trade_in_ict_serivces2.pdf
9 https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/IPandtheUSEconomySept2016.pdf
11 https://www.ebaymainstreet.com/sites/default/files/EBAY_US-Marketplace_FINAL.pdf
13 https://www.itic.org/public-policy/SnapshotofDataLocalizationMeasures1-19-2017.pdf
15 http://ecipe.org/app/uploads/2016/12/Unleashing-Internal-Data-Flows-in-the-EU.pdf
16 http://www.leviathansecurity.com/blog/quantifying-the-cost-of-forced-localization
17 http://www.ecipe.org/app/uploads/2014/12/OCC32014__1.pdf
This document was posted showing the date:
The San Diego Union-Tribune Reduced 401(k) tax benefits column
Federal judge rebuffs AGs’ suit over Obamacare subsidies
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News