Tech to government: Help us help you
Date: May 1, 2015
America is in an economic recovery. But the modest growth we’ve experienced this decade is not enough – not nearly enough – to address our looming budget issues. We’ve tapped the brakes on forward progress, and while we’re not at a standstill, our economic improvement is slow.
The U.S. budget deficit is 6.2 percent higher through the first four months of this fiscal year, rising to $194.2 billion through January. Harnessing and promoting the dynamic innovation and job-creation capabilities of the technology industry – a sector that generates billions of dollars for the U.S. the economy and may produce the world’s first company with a trillion-dollar valuation – will help us reduce the deficit and add revenue to the Treasury.
In 2011, leaders in the tech industry recommended to the Congressional Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction to bring down our deficit and create jobs. They urged government to reallocate spectrum – the radio frequencies that support wireless communication – through auctions to improve the mobile broadband services that feed our insatiable thirst for anywhere/anytime connectivity.