Is there a National Technology Agenda?
With one of the most technology savvy Presidents in office, you would think that Washington would be openly embracing the Technology Industry. Unfortunately, the technology industry is not as experienced at lobbying as hospitals, physicians, farmers, and unions. As a result, it is important that we first define our agenda as an industry and then second to spread the word by meeting with our local, state, and national representatives.
We were fortunate to participate in the TECNA FLY-In in in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. TECNA is the Technology Councils of North America. Technology business leaders addressed some of the key issues facing the technology industry and brought the cause to legislators.
TECNA members were in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. Technology business leaders addressed some of the key issues facing the technology industry and brought the cause to legislators.
The issues we brought to Washington:
STEM AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
The most lasting stimulus to the economy of the United States will be “stim-novation”—the investment our nation makes in shaping the emerging generation of innovators who will discover, invent, and commercialize new technologies that move our nation and the world into a better future. Recognizing this, TECNA advocates for:
• Driving comprehensive STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education reforms and innovations from preschool through college via dedicated federal education and workforce development funding sources.
• Establishing a national training program for technology industry jobs to encourage the re-skilling
of incumbent workers and transition emerging workers into the innovation economy.
• Federal funding to support paid internship grants that provide America’s young people with firsthand experience working in and with the technology sector at a paid wage that benefits both the intern and the employer.
• Continue funding and support for rural competitiveness through the U.S. Department of Labor’s
WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) program.
HEALTHCARE IT
Advances in healthcare IT promise to increase the accessibility and affordability of quality healthcare, while also demonstrating innovations that will have worldwide applicability and generate new jobs. To support Healthcare IT development, TECNA advocates for:
• Working with the healthcare and IT industries to create guidelines and best practices for the rapid deployment of $19 billion in stimulus funding for adoption of electronic medical records (EMR).
• Targeted funding for the continued development of Health Information Exchange (HIE) networks at the state and regional levels. Without multi-party HIE partnerships, the benefits of EMR and e-prescribing will not be fully realized.
BROADBAND ACCESS
Universal access to high-bandwidth internet connectivity is an essential component in America’s present and future competitiveness. It is also a critical facet in the long-term success of healthcare IT, since more than 61 million Americans live in rural settings. Even in urban areas, the challenge will be to maintain and enhance bandwidth as the demand for internet applications grows exponentially. TECNA advocates for:
• Federal commitment to ensuring that high-speed internet access reaches all Americans in both
urban and rural areas, through continued funding for rural broadband.
• Funding to address the Exaflood (the exponential growth of the internet through the use of video
and other high-bandwidth applications) so that healthcare providers and other users can transmit
images, video, and other files quickly and easily from any location.
INNOVATION ECONOMICS
In order to encourage innovation, America needs to remain focused on establishing a culture that encourages bold, new thinking and the introduction of new technologies in the marketplace. Innovation economics are the engine for our nation’s future growth. As a result, TECNA advocates for:
• Encouraging innovation and remaining globally competitive. America needs a world-class patent
system. Patent reform should ensure a balanced playing field that fairly compensates all innovators. With much at stake, we encourage Information Technology (IT), Bio/life-sciences and competing interests to negotiate patent reform solutions and to achieve timely passage of patent reform.
• Maintaining our commitment to the recently re-approved Federal Research and Development (R&D) tax credit by making it a permanent fixture in America’s domestic economic policy. Half of all companies who use the R&D tax credit are small businesses who are developing emerging technologies and can generate new wealth for our nation through their efforts.
So what does this mean for Nashville?
Great question. Nashville is well positioned for win some portion of the Healthcare IT stimulus money. However, we have not seen a local company emerge to take the national stage. It is unfortunate, because we have more experience in integrating healthcare IT systems than anyone in the country. Plus, we have four HIT vendors well represented in the local market: CHS (HMS), HCA (Meditech), Vanderbilt and IASIS (McKesson), and Baptist and St Thomas (Cerner). Between HMS, Meditech, McKesson, and Cerner, they represent close to 80% of the US Hospital HIT systems. Our national reputation as the Silicon Valley of Healthcare is at stake. If another company in Austin, Boston, or San Jose emerges as the leading EMR/EHR, then this will surely hurt us locally in our branding efforts.
In the area of Broadband, Connected Tennessee is truly a national leader in getting broadband access to the rural communities. However, there is more money and opportunity in Tennessee for entrepreneurs who want to wire up local communities. In addition, there is $350M in stimulus money to map broadband nationwide. Surely using the model that Connected Tennessee has with ESRI’s technologies, this could be done by Tennesseans.
Resources for Tracking the Stimulus Funds and Finding a Grant of Stimulus Money:
http://tnrecovery.gov/
Sources:
TECNA
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