Engine Party Convention Recap

Our trip to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions are more proof of Engine’s ability to build the discussion about startups and create knowledge about the critical role innovation plays in our economy. We’re back from a busy few weeks in Tampa and Charlotte. Fresh and energized from talking with hundreds of engaged Americans as well as policymakers from both sides of the aisle about the importance of startups and the innovation economy, we’re looking forward to continuing to work on these issues in the coming months leading up to the election and beyond.

Key at both conventions was the growing certainty that innovation is an issue of national importance. Across the board, people from both parties, from communities all across the country, are concerned with economic prosperity and global competitiveness. We saw this at panels with Startup America and Huffington Post at both conventions. We saw it at events we co-sponsored with Startup Rockon. We heard it from the candidates themselves in their speeches.

We were able to connect with people from all across the country, showing them how high-tech industries and startups in their communities are helping to drive the economy with our data visualization, built on Google maps in partnership with the Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BACEI). And we launched a guide to the key issues that are affecting startups and innovation.

We’ll be continuing to work with BACEI to examine the data around high-tech sector job growth across the United States, with a full report from BACEI coming out in the Autumn. And we’ll be working with policymakers and candidates to educate them about the issues and help them make good calls for startups in the next Congress and beyond.

Engine @DNC Day 4: Innovation Working for America

If we’re dragging our feet a little after day three of the Democratic convention, we’re not alone. The nominating conventions have been jam packed with great panels, networking events, and opportunities to educate policymakers and convention goers alike about startup issues that will be impacting America’s economy for the next four years.

Yesterday, we kicked off with a breakfast with the Vermont delegation to the convention, as well as special guests Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. We look forward to working with Senator Leahy and the Senate Judiciary Committee on innovation issues after the November elections.

A Huffington Post lunch panel “What is Working” focused on how America can harness innovation to solve national economic and socio-economic challenges. We also attended the “What is Working” panel at the Republican Convention in Tampa with different panelists, and it was refreshing to hear viewpoints about innovation across the political spectrum. Hosted by Arianna Huffington and Tom Brokaw, yesterday’s panel included Julian Castro, the San Antonio Mayor who impressed delegates with his keynote speech Tuesday night and artist will.i.am, who talked about his collaboration with NASA and his commitment to bringing STEM education and entrepreneurial opportunity to all Americans.

At CEA’s Innovation Nation event, we spent time chatting to Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon about the innovation economy. We then joined our friends from Tumblr to watch the speeches. Former President Bill Clinton highlighted the vital need for innovation and skilled labor to the future of the U.S. economy.

Clinton said, “There are already three million jobs open and unfilled in America mostly because the people who apply for them don’t yet have the required skills … the old economy is not coming back, we’ve got to build a new one.”

We’re excited today to keep spreading the word about the issues policymakers should focus on to keep entrepreneurs and the internet economy flourishing before the conventions close. We look forward to continuing to work with both parties into the next Congress on issues vital to the future of our economy.

Engine @DNC Day 3: Education Takes Center Stage

A rainy Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention saw speeches from candidates, elected officials, and celebrities with a particular focus on the importance of education to the economy. Engine has pursued greater support for education in the United States and the speeches last night in Charlotte drove home the importance of this resource to American ingenuity.

Keynote speaker Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio, put a sharp point on the issue, saying “you can’t be pro-business if you’re not pro-education.” First Lady Michelle Obama, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and actor and former White House liaison Kal Penn each made calls for continued support and reform of the education system from pre-K to Pell Grants.

Our recent work with the Bay Area Council Economic Institute highlights the critical role technology jobs play across the country. We can’t continue to fill these jobs without qualified workers graduating from U.S. schools. The strength of our economy is dependent on the quality of the students we graduate, particularly in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

Engine is excited to hear more about plans to boost education and will be continuing our conversation with elected officials and delegates throughout the convention season. Stay tuned here for updates from Charlotte and don’t forget to look through our primer on issues that matter to startups. 

Engine @DNC Day 2: Social Media and Startups in Charlotte

Today marks the first full day of the second leg of the party nominating conventions. Last week, Engine traveled to Tampa, Florida, speaking with policymakers and delegates from the Republican Party about issues that impact startups. This week, we’re excited to be in Charlotte, North Carolina, soaking up the sun and engaging with policymakers and delegates from the Democratic Party.

Just as in Tampa, we have a packed schedule, meeting with decision-makers and convention-goers alike to discuss the issues facing startups in America this election season, into the next Congress, and beyond. Yesterday we attended a panel discussing the role of social media technology in the political process, hosted by Major Garrett of the National Journal and Garance Franke-Ruta, with the Obama Administration’s Chief Digital Strategist Joe Rospars, as well as panelists from Google, Facebook, and Twitter. From those monitoring the buzz around key political events, we heard that social media is having a major impact in terms of political engagement and that its impact is considerably higher than it was just four years ago.

We’re excited to be partnering with StartUp RockOn, a group promoting entrepreneurialism in both Tampa and Charlotte for the conventions. Last night we co-sponsored an event with the StartUp Rockon team, and we’ll be seeing them again during the convention for a series of panels and other sessions.

Engine will be promoting sound policy on the issues that count for entrepreneurs and innovators. We’ll be passing around a primer on these issues and others that affect startups, and talking to policymakers about how they can help set an agenda that will impact the growth of the U.S. economy and our continued ability to compete globally. As we head into the fall campaign, we’re looking forward to discussing these and other issues for startups in greater depth, working to improve entrepreneurs’ standing as the leaders of the economy.

Engine @RNC Day 5: Rice on Innovation, Onward to Charlotte

Engine leaves Tampa today after making our first trip to a party nominating convention. We’ve worked to raise the profile of startups and the issues that confront them at the convention through a primer on startup issues and a data visualization highlighting the role of tech across the country. Engine wasn’t alone in talking about technology at the conventions; former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made the case for high skilled immigration in her speech Wednesday night.

“They have come here from the world's most impoverished nations just to make a decent wage. And they have come here from advanced societies as engineers and scientists that fuel the knowledge-based revolution in the Silicon Valley of California, in the Research Triangle of North Carolina, along Route 128 in Massachusetts, in Austin, Texas, and across this great land,” said the Stanford University professor.

Dr. Rice is exactly right about the importance of immigrants to this “knowledge-based” economy, but what she may not know is just how many places are home to these technology industry jobs. Engine has created a data visualization to demonstrate the importance of technology to communities around the country. This includes the innovation hubs she mentioned, but also areas not usually thought of as “high tech” in states like Colorado, New Mexico, and Minnesota.

As we head north to Charlotte and the Democratic Convention, we will continue to talk about the issues that are impacting technology startups across the country -- from skilled immigration, to STEM education, to broadband and spectrum, to patent and financial regulation. We hope to see some of you there. Stay tuned!

Engine @RNC Day 4: Startups Making a Splash in Tampa

What a week. Speeches! Panels! Data Visualizations! Engine is making the most of our first party nominating convention tour in the southeastern United States and it’s been a pleasure spending time with Republican policymakers and delegates talking about issues that matter to startups.

Throughout the week, Startup RockOn, a group showcasing and promoting startups, hosted a series of panels and events on topics including innovation in digital media, government and startups, and female founders. The Startup America Partnership joined on many of these events. Startup America also worked with The Huffington Post to host a lunch on job creation that particularly highlighted the role of startups. The lunch was followed by a startup expo allowing entrepreneurs to connect with delegates and the media.

Engine has been participating at each of these events in addition to highlighting our data visualization of tech jobs at an event co-hosted by Google and Bloomberg. Startups are central to the dialogue on the economy at the RNC and we plan to keep that dialogue moving forward in Charlotte.

Don’t forget to check out our primer on the issues impacting startups, and keep this dialogue moving in your community as well.

Innovative U.S. Jobs, Startups Not Only a “Tech Center” Phenomenon

The tech sector may be driving the economy where you least expect. Today, in collaboration with the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, or BACEI, Engine launches its first major research project, demonstrating the importance of technology and entrepreneurship across the American economy. We invite you to explore the data and see where innovation is happening. 

Engine is San Francisco-based and we hear from people in business and government alike that startups and technology are centered in Silicon Valley, where a small network of innovators, investors, and entrepreneurs build the “new economy.” But in Engine’s effort to connect policymakers to entrepreneurs, we have worked with startups located across the country ranging from Kansas to Georgia to Michigan.

Our work with BACEI aims to tell the whole story. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Establishment Time Series Database, BACEI calculations show that tech jobs and startups aren’t isolated. In fact, as BACEI economist Ian Hathaway told us last week, growth “is not only a ‘tech center’ phenomenon.” Communities including Dayton, Ohio and Troy, Michigan, and Columbia, South Carolina have experienced growth in technology employment exceeding 10 percent in 2011.

What BACEI observed:

• Since the dot-com bust, jobs in the high-tech sector have performed better than for the private sector as a whole. 

• A minimum of 61% of counties had at least some high-tech jobs in 2011 -- data limitations prevent a truer and larger estimate because data are suppressed in sparsely populated counties to protect the identity of individual companies. Estimates for many counties are not available.

• Metro areas with the fastest growing high-tech jobs are geographically and economically diverse.

• In 2009, more than 72% of counties had at least one new business establishment in the high-tech sector.

• High-tech startups have held relatively steady during the economic downturn, even while new business establishments across the entire private sector have declined.

Let’s unpack this a little bit. Based on Department of Labor definitions, technology industries are those that include a very high share of technical disciplines -- those in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (STEM). If you’ve been following Engine, you’ll know STEM employees play a critical role in startups and technology and that the need for STEM professionals has led to calls for new legislation to bolster startups.

Second, our data visualization tracks jobs in the private sector. This means we’re looking at all the jobs at companies in technology industries, not just workers with these professional skills. These industries include computer hardware, software, systems design, and information; high-technology communications and electronics equipment; internet publishing and web search portals; data hosting and processing services; pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing; aerospace manufacturing; architecture and engineering services; and research and development services. We aim to show that technology doesn’t just create jobs for engineers and computer scientists, but managers, designers, salespeople, and executives as well.

Finally, the startup data we track reflects new business establishments -- first-year startups -- in the same technology industries. This includes businesses across the board, including sole proprietorships that are not captured by Labor Department or Census Bureau data. It’s a broad net and captures a comprehensive picture of tech startup growth.

Our research aims to think critically about how technology, the internet, and entrepreneurship shape our economy. The first step is to dispel a few misconceptions about the location of tech jobs. Going forward, the analysis will provide insight into labor trends and their impact on public policy.

We want consumers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to dive into the data -- looking at their own backyard or at the national level -- to gain a better understanding of how technology influences jobs. We think you might be surprised.

Engine @RNC Day 2: Tech Matters

The sun has finally broken through Isaac’s clouds here in Tampa as Day 2, and the real action of the Republican National Convention, gets underway. The Engine team and a few of our members are coming together here in Florida for a full day of meetings and events with political leaders from across the country.

Yesterday was a relatively quiet day here in Tampa, with the Convention being called to order, and less than two minutes later gaveled to a close, by RNC Chair Reince Priebus. A few events did remain on the schedule outside the convention hall, however, with technology issues at the forefront of many of them. In the morning, our team attended a briefing in Tampa’s historic Ybor City neighborhood on social media and how it is changing politics in this election year, with the National Journal’s Major Garrett, Atlantic Magazine’s Garance Franke-Ruta and CBS News’ former White House Correspondent Norah O’Donnell. Their guests, which ranged from Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to Governor Romney’s digital director Zac Moffatt and others, all sounded notes of optimism on the use of new technologies and their impact on the process.

Gov. Snyder, dubbed “Governor Hangout” by his constituents for his use of Google’s video technology to hold town hall meetings around the state, talked about his engagement strategy with voters and how his office uses technology to provide “top-notch customer service” to Michiganders. You can hear more about his strategies by following him on Twitter, @onetoughnerd.

Today is a day packed full of great events in and around the convention hall here in Florida, with Ann Romney and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie taking to the podium among many others. Keep up with what we’re doing by following us on Twitter with more exciting news to come.

Engine @RNC Day 1: Learn the Issues

Today, Engine launches its inaugural trip to the party nominating conventions to promote the cause of startups and entrepreneurs to policymakers and delegates in Tampa, Florida and Charlotte, North Carolina. Our first priority: Highlighting the issues that matter to small businesses, technology startups, and entrepreneurs.

We chose to highlight eight issues that are shaping the startup space, connecting with entrepreneurs to provide insight into how these issues impact their businesses. Our goal is to give convention-goers and decision makers from both parties perspective on some of the biggest issues Congress will have to weigh after the votes are cast.

Check out “Our Internet, Our Economy: Issues Impacting America’s Startups” here and visit engine.is throughout convention season for our updates on the ground at the conventions.

Kent Walker: Embrace the Future, Fix a Broken Patent System

The future of America’s economy depends on policymakers embracing and fostering technology, according to Google’s Chief Counsel Kent Walker, who spoke at an open forum about the intersection of technology and policy earlier this week. Around 200 attendees gathered in Aspen, Colorado for an annual gathering of the Technology Policy Institute -- a Washington, DC-based policy think tank -- to discuss the most pressing policy issues the innovation economy currently faces.

Near the top of that list is how we think about software patents. As many startups have discovered in the course of building innovative products, our current system is largely broken. Walker, who has a long history of serving with some of the leading names in American innovation, from Netscape to AOL, identified three areas of policy development that would better serve the innovation community.

First, we should re-engineer the patent system to support, rather than attack innovation. Google made some news on that front last week by unveiling its Prior Art Finder database, a tool that examiners and applicants alike can use to search earlier patent applications and avoid duplicative applications. Walker asserted that further steps would be necessary, including re-thinking the utility and viability of the software patent overall, but resetting the system to be one of support is a good first step.

Walker also suggests extending a provision in The America Invents Act that weeds out counterproductive financial business model patents, to include software patents. This measure, along with working directly with the Patent and Trademark Office to discontinue issuing these types of patents in the first place, could ease the burden on examiners and applicants alike.

Finally, Walker warned that innovators must work against the expansion of the current system of litigation that is driving much of the conversation on patents. As a community that has been besieged by a broken patent system, we can and should fight to make serious public policy inroads to better serve the needs of our industry. As Walker says, we must embrace the future, and heed the Samuel Morse telegraph case of the 1800s, by seeking not to define and codify law according to what we know today, but to take care not to impede progress in areas which we haven’t yet explored and discovered.

Walker’s full remarks are available here. Engine will continue to explore opportunities to influence public policy around patents and will continue to update. If you have a patent story to share, let us know about it. info@engine.is

FCC Report: More Americans Have Access to Broadband

The Federal Communications Commission announced Tuesday that more Americans are connected to broadband, signaling an important step forward for startups and small businesses across the country. The commission released its Eighth Broadband Progress Report -- a congressionally-mandated overview of expansion of broadband -- that reported about 19 million people lack broadband access, seven million fewer than in its 2011 overview.

While Google Fiber gigabit speeds in Kansas City have grabbed headlines in recent weeks, vast areas of the United States lack access to adequate internet services. Rural communities in particular are cut off from communications infrastructure, limiting entrepreneurial opportunities for web-based businesses in these areas.

Broadband is the most basic tool startups require to succeed. Whether a young company is developing ground-breaking software, creating the next best-selling video game, or simply setting up an online storefront, businesses need connection speeds that support the services they need.

Inadequate dial-up or expensive satellite link services are the only options in many areas, limiting the connectivity of current devices. Economically, many far-flung communities are difficult to connect for telecoms, as they offer little or no return on investment. The economic stimulus passed by Congress in 2009 allocated billions of dollars to alleviate this pressure, but administrative requirements and the seasonal nature of construction has hindered the deployment of internet services to neighborhoods and homes.

The report is good news, but more needs to be done to connect the 19 million Americans cut off from broadband opportunity. Engine will continue to advocate for innovative strategies to close the broadband gap, including TV white spaces, subsidy reform, and municipal fiber. There isn’t one simple solution for closing the broadband gap, but these tools are available to policymakers and should be explored and tested.

Image via broadbandmap.gov

Rep. Hoyer Visits Engine to Talk Policy, Engage with Entrepreneurs

Today Engine hosted Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), a member of the House Democratic leadership, at a lunchtime roundtable with members of the startup community. The meetup was part of a series of events hosted by Engine at the Hattery offices in SOMA to promote dialogue about policy issues that are impacting startups across the country.

While in the Valley, Rep. Hoyer is visiting large tech companies like Cisco, Google, and Facebook as well as startups and entrepreneurs. The conversation touched on a variety of issues affecting the community, including skilled immigration, STEM education, and broadband access for rural Americans. The group also discussed issues important to the health of our economy and the U.S. as a whole.

Engine member and healthcare startup Morpheus took the opportunity to demo their product for

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the congressman, which gives cardiologists a non-invasive, 3D view of the human heart -- a piece of technology created by foreign-born, U.S.-educated entrepreneurs.

Engine will continue to keep you posted about opportunities to engage with policymakers as they meet with members of the startup community.

Engine Heading to GOP, Dem Conventions

Over the next few weeks, Engine will embark on a trip to the party nominating conventions in Tampa and Charlotte. We’ll hear President Obama and Governor Romney speaking about the agenda for our country for the coming four years. And alongside some of our leading entrepreneurial members, we’ll be meeting with leaders and policymakers from both parties -- talking with them about the role startups play in growth in the economy, and how we can work together in the next Congress and beyond to craft better legislation and regulation in this arena.

We’ll be working alongside our friends at Startup America, the Consumer Electronics Association, Google, and many other companies and interests to provide a view into the startup community at a number of events at both the RNC and DNC. We’ll also be releasing resources for candidates and advocates at both conventions, which we’ll pass along here as well.

If you’re attending, make sure to keep an eye out for us, and if you’re not braving the convention heat, we’ll be updating here and on Twitter and Facebook with updates from the excitement in both cities.

Image courtesy of clmclarty

Mars Rover Brings Curiosity Back to Earth

 A week and a half ago, NASA landed its Curiosity rover on Mars, opening a new stage of exploration on our neighboring planet. The mission opens doors for the next generation of Americans to experience the boundaries pushed by NASA as images of the Martian landscape are posted across the web.

Carl Sagan’s Emmy and Peabody award-winning 1980 series Cosmos highlighted the power of astronomy, cosmology, and exploration and inspired a generation. Sagan has again become popular on the internet, on YouTube and in memes lately, alongside Richard Fenyman and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Users are attempting to recapture the spirit of Cosmos and evangelize science and technology anew. While I have many favorite moments in the series, one video that sticks with me is Sagan teaching children in a Brooklyn classroom about the universe. I would easily trade all of my schooling to be in that classroom on that day.

You may be wondering why all of this matters to startups. It’s

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hard for me to look at individuals like Bobak Ferdowski, Flight Director for the mission, or Sagan, Feynman, or deGrasse Tyson without dwelling on the importance of education to the future of innovation and technology in the United States. Despite a revival of enthusiasm for these scientific public figures, fewer students are graduating with high tech degrees. According to the Department of Commerce, fewer than forty percent of students entering college pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics leave with a degree in one of these fields.

The U.S. needs STEM graduates to build more than Mars rovers. One stereotypical image associated with startups is of enterprising college dropouts building businesses in garages, but the fact is that STEM graduates are needed to build the next generation of American businesses. Recent debate over immigration reform for high skilled workers demonstrates the need for more students ready to take on the technical challenges posed by businesses that harness technology -- whether computer science-based or in fields such as health and energy -- to create a new class of disruptive products.

The discussion of education and U.S. schools’ priorities have lagged behind the debate about NASA’s funding in a time when the economy dominates U.S. politics. Lawmakers need to make a stronger connection between education, scientific achievement, and the progress of the economy as a whole. Startups and high tech firms help drive job growth beyond STEM degree holders. Research has shown that startups that survive and become successful companies create millions of jobs, most of which include administrators, accountants, and executives.

Though its easy to focus on our differences in an election year, the success of NASA serves as a reminder of our commonly held values and the importance of pushing boundaries, exploring, and innovating. We need more than the space program to inspire students to reach for the stars. Lawmakers need to make sure this generation of American students have the resources, encouragement, and opportunity to launch the economy of tomorrow.

Image via NASA.gov

New Democrat Coalition Members Visit Engine Advocacy

Engine hosted representatives Ron Kind of Wisconsin and John Carney of Delaware today in a roundtable on issues impacting startups. Carney, a recent addition to Congress in 2011, serves on the House Financial Services Committee while Kind, who has served since 1997, sits on the House Ways and Means Committee. These congressional bodies set budgetary, tax, and financial policy in the United States.

The congressmen are members of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of moderate democratic legislators. Engine discussed issues including patent, financial regulation, skilled immigration, education, and broadband and spectrum. The meeting brought together entrepreneurs from a variety of Bay Area startups as well as Engine’s steering committee members including Techdirt’s Mike Masnick, Marvin Ammori of The Ammori Group, and Luis Arbulu who serves as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The event underscored the need for Congress to address “no-brainer” policies that will boost small business, entrepreneurship, and startups. Engine is committed to continuing to connect entrepreneurs and policymakers on the issues that will shape the future of our economy.

Innovation Should Drive IP Enforcement Strategy

On June 25, the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Victoria Espinel, reached out for public comment on their Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement. Today, Engine, alongside many other groups from the startup and open internet communities, submitted its public comment.

We advocate for an “innovation first” policy, advising that the administration focus on protecting entrepreneurs building enterprises rather than seeking a new, more aggressive approach. It’s a shift in strategy that we believe could fundamentally change the conversation on IP. We ask that the administration consider the high costs of enforcement to startups and other disruptive businesses.

You can read our full comment here and please add your own thoughts here on how you think the U.S. government should approach IP enforcement.

EIR Program Works on Immigration Policy

For the past 3 months, I have been working on improving the state of our immigration system with a group of entrepreneurs, investors, and other experts as part of the Entrepreneur in Residence program held by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

This Monday, we discussed some of our findings and recommendations for improving the immigration process for entrepreneurs at an event at Georgia Tech. The event was attended by faculty, students, immigration professionals, and others interested in the issue.

The EIR program is designed to bring together experts to find pathways to optimize the current immigration system for foreign-born immigrants who want to start or grow their businesses in the United States. These entrepreneurs represent a key factor in the growth of the U.S. economy, building successful businesses that generate revenue as well as creating American jobs. In a global economy, it is vital that this country retain the top worldwide talent and businesses in order to compete. I wrote more about the program at the beginning of my residency. 

Key areas that we have specifically looked into are the process include the confusing multitude of visa options, training of immigration officers, and policy.

One of the most confusing decisions for an entrepreneur is deciding which of the many visas they should petition for; there is H-1, L, O, OPT for recent grads, etc. We will be launching soon a web resource for entrepreneurs to understand what the requirements for each of those classifications are and what evidence to provide for support.

We also see the training of immigration workers to be a key area where we can implement change: we’ve designed and rolled out training for visa adjudicators on issues such as startup structures, financing, documentation, and operations.

There is still more work to be done in this initiative, particularly on the policy side, so we’ve decided to extend the program for an additional 9 months to continue on this effort. You can follow what we’re doing at USCIS, and stay up to date with other measures to reform immigration, like Startup Act, here on Engine.is.

Congress is Asking: Tell Your Patent Story

Members of Congress are seeking comment from the tech entrepreneurial community about how the current patent system impacts their businesses, a promising sign that policymakers are paying attention to the harmful effects patent litigation has on emerging growth companies.

Earlier this month, Santa Clara University Assistant Professor of Law Colleen Chien testified before the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property about the desperate need many startup founders and entrepreneurs face for reform of the patent system. Resulting from that discussion in Washington was a sense that members of Congress need input from our community with regard to what’s working and what isn’t with patents.

Professor Chien has put together a brief survey for those of you at startups who spend your time working on patent demands, to share your experiences with the current system. The survey responses will form the basis of opening a dialogue with members of Congress about what’s happening in our community, and what some of the solutions are to improving the system.

So, if you or your company is dealing with these issues, take a few minutes (Colleen promises it won’t take more than 15, and don’t worry, your answers will be kept confidential) to tell your story so we can start down the road of making changes in the patent system that work for startups.

White House Council Recommends New Approach to Spectrum

A group of advisors urged President Obama to take take new steps to open federally-controlled spectrum for commercial applications on July 20. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology -- a group that includes administration technologists, academics, and executives of technology companies -- recommended the President direct the government to share underutilized spectrum allocated to a variety of federal agencies.

“Shared spectrum” combines elements of the exclusive license system and unlicensed regimes. While the government may need to use spectrum to communicate with drones or operate radar in some areas, in others the spectrum is fallow. The new system would allow for the development of new devices on these chunks of underutilized airwaves.

The report emphasizes the ability of policymakers to shift the present spectrum crunch “from scarcity to abundance.” This theme is meant to convey the opportunity shared spectrum provides in alleviating the demand for wireless services. I wrote about this subject ahead of an event on unlicensed spectrum co-hosted by Engine a few weeks ago.

Spectrum is one of the most important public assets innovative companies can harness to create disruptive new products. Wireless device use has exploded in the last decade with the development of WiFi and the expansion of mobile technologies that drive the advancement of smartphones, tablets, and other consumer wireless services. Startups play a critical role in the wireless ecosystem, developing applications that maximize the value of these services to users and creating new devices for consumers and enterprises.

Spectrum ownership and regulation have evolved over the last decade. While wireless providers have become increasingly consolidated -- the Justice Department deemed there to be only four “national” carriers in its move to block AT&T’s purchase of T-Mobile in 2011 -- technologies allowing various users to share airwaves have advanced rapidly. These developments have elicited calls for regulators to accommodate innovative technologies while freeing more and more spectrum for wireless carriers, agendas that haven’t always worked well together.

The advisors recommend increased incentives to open the public airwaves for experimentation, noting that the process of moving incumbent users and organizing auctions for wireless carriers is “unsustainable.” Clearing the spectrum occupied by federal agencies has proven to be a painstaking process. Allowing federal and commercial users to harness software-defined radios and other technologies could bring more spectrum to startups faster.

Innovative technologies certainly offer the promise of a freer wireless future but obstacles remain. As the Wireless Innovation Alliance said in a press release, “The PCAST report is an important first step, but there is more work to be done in order to ensure more efficient use and expanded access to the nation’s spectrum resources.”

An encouraging aspect of the recommendations is the intent to let innovation, not incumbents, drive the future wireless landscape. Wireless carriers play a critical role in connecting users, businesses, and entrepreneurs, but they don’t play the only role. Striking the appropriate policy balance is challenging, but a generation of innovators is waiting for new spectral resources to open.

Image: The White House

Karlo Dizon on Open Internet, Guam, and Effecting Change in Congress

Last week, Karlo Dizon, a 27-year-old Guamanian and graduate of Yale University, announced his candidacy for Guam’s non-voting delegate seat in the United States Congress. He did so in two ways -- the traditional means of filing paperwork with the territory’s elections office, and also by conducting an AMA, or ‘Ask Me Anything’, post on the popular social news aggregator Reddit. Mr. Dizon has made campaigning for a free and open internet a cornerstone of his run for office, so we asked him to talk about his run for Congress, his views on the internet and how they impact his potential constituents on Guam in a Q&A.

ENGINE: So, you’re running for Congress. Why?

KARLO DIZON: I ran because I was dissatisfied with the current Congresswoman but few were willing to step up to the plate. I have always believed in the ability of the democratic process to provide the best for our society, and consequently, I have grown uncomfortable with the direction and climate Congress has been taking for quite some time. In the spirit of being the change you want to see in the world, I thought it was time I try to affect change myself. I suppose that is really the primary reason: rather than hoping the current Congresswoman would listen to the growing concerns of the people of Guam, I would champion change directly by running for Congress.

E: A lot of the public discussion of your campaign is based around ideas of a free and open internet. How do you think this affects your constituency in Guam? Do you see it as a more national issue or one of particular local importance?

KD: Defending a free and open internet should be a fundamental priority for anyone who values democracy. As such I don’t know if I could separate the national and local effects as two different things. Just as I see my local heritage being influenced by and inseparable from national ideals of freedom, self-sufficiency, and democracy, so, too, do I understand the effects of legislation such as SOPA, PIPA and CISPA to be disastrous to the nation and my island. However, it should be stated that for a relatively remote island in the Pacific, there are specific worries for what CISPA would mean for Guam. Namely, if freedoms are curtailed and the use of the internet becomes associated with risking privacy, our dependence on the internet for consuming goods and information from the mainland would jeopardize our people’s ability to advance the pursuit of equality with standards of living enjoyed in the rest of the United States.

E: You announced your campaign to people worldwide in a Reddit thread. How have internet-based tools helped you broadcast your message to the electorate?

KD: Guam is still developing a sense of online presence for political outreach purposes. We hope that the way we’re running this campaign will encourage all future elections to tap into this resource, as it provides a forum for interacting with people on a more individual level. As of now, we’re primarily using Facebook and a campaign website that hooks to a backend database. I genuinely believe that Facebook is the next level of political communication--it provides the means for a two-way conversation and is instantly received by the voters on their screens or phones, compared to a website that voters have to actively access themselves.We have started to see individuals making their way up to us because they saw our online presence, agreed with our goals, and wanted to see how they could help. It reinforces our belief that providing open access to information online is pivotal not only for the democratic process but also in forging stronger ties with the community as a whole. And of course, we look forward to advancing an online political culture that utilizes more of the available tools in order to enfranchise younger generations.

E: What would your goals be if elected, especially with regard to internet openness, and what effect do you think you can have in Congress as a non-voting delegate?

KD: By and large my goals echo that of the Democratic Party, and even more so with regards to internet openness. I support the Obama administration’s defense of the American people’s privacy, data confidentiality and civil liberties, and I agree that the internet is public domain. I would fight to encourage the President’s current stance of vetoing CISPA, and proactively look into ways of preventing further legislation from ever getting this far. As per the vote, I do think it is important to remember that as the delegate from Guam, I would have a vote in committees. To the extent that I can influence committee decisions and authorship of bills, then, I think there is plenty of room to influence Congress. It is true that not having a vote makes it more difficult, but then, if I didn’t like a challenge I wouldn’t be running against a 10-year incumbent.