America’s Innovation Leaders Join to Drive
New Job Creation Ideas in the Presidential Campaigns
TechElect to Offer Cutting-Edge Approaches for Innovation, Economic Growth


 
WASHINGTON, D.C... In an unprecedented effort, America’s technology and innovation leaders are joining together in a nonpartisan policy drive to revitalize U.S. economic growth and job creation – and to share these ideas with both presidential campaigns.
 
“Job creation is the single most important issue in this election.  American voters are anxious for new ideas that will generate good-paying, long-lasting jobs for the U.S. economy for many years to come.  Through TechElect, candidates and the general public will hear from and have access to cutting-edge approaches to job creation that are anchored in technology andinnovation,” explained Dean C. Garfield, president and CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI).
 
“Throughout the campaign, TechElect will talk with voters and candidates alike about ways to spark new investments in jobs and innovation.  The tech sector has proved to be an effective – and creative – voice in many key debates in Washington.  With our partners across the economic and political sectors, we plan to bring the power of that voice to bear on the next generation of job creation,” Garfield said.
 
ITI is the leading advocacy organization for some of the world’s best-known technology companies.  It represents ten of the world’s 50 largest companies and ten percent of the Fortune 50 and Fortune 100 companies.  ITI is serving as the main organizer for TechElect, which has support from major technology companies, other technology organizations, and policy and economic organizations like the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, the Semiconductor Industry Association, and the U.S.-Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
 
“High-tech businesses are playing a central role in our efforts to create the jobs that will drive the U.S. economy toward solid recovery and future prosperity,” explained Javier Palomarez, president & CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.  “The TechElect priorities offer a bipartisan agenda to accelerate job growth across sectors, in businesses of all sizes.  From education to innovation, TechElect offers a smart approach to jumpstarting the American economy.”
 
“We believe in the critical importance of research and development,” SIA’s President Brian Toohey explained.  “Fundamental, basic research, performed at universities and funded by the industry and the federal government, is critical to sustaining the pipeline of discoveries central to creating new jobs and building the innovation economy.  With smart policies, we believe we can create jobs, drive economic growth, and develop the technologies needed to solve our most pressing challenges.”
 
TechElect has adopted core principles where there is common ground for all candidates:
 

  • Improve education with a focus on STEM and core sciences:  Boost math, science, technology, and engineering skills in our students so they can succeed in the innovation-powered global economy;
  • Strengthen America’s incentives for innovation and protect our place as the global leader in innovation:  Fix and simplify the tax code to help businesses create new jobs with lower rates,  and provide incentives for breakthrough innovation to strengthen job creation and investment at home; 
  • Expand trade:  Promote open access to foreign markets;
  • Protect America:  Protect America’s digital networks with a strong, innovative cybersecurity plan that leverages public-private partnerships; and
  • Reform immigration:  As part of comprehensive immigration reform, allow the world’s best and brightest minds to call America home.

 
Throughout the summer and fall, TechElect will work with both campaigns to develop specific policy initiatives that are rooted in these core principles and also reflect the candidates’ priorities.  TechElect is planning events in battleground states and at the parties’ nominating conventions to help drive voters’ attention to these issues.  And there will be an aggressive social media component featuring white papers, blogs, and online discussions of the issues and the campaigns.
 
“Never before has the tech sector been united in this kind of a nonpartisan effort to drive new ideas for job creation.  But, the truth is, never in our lifetimes have we faced as significant an economic challenge as we do today,” Garfield explained.  “The recession has served to shine a bright light on the foundational fractures in our economy.  TechElect will provide both campaigns with ideas to build a stronger, longer-lasting foundation that puts more people to work.  We want to make sure that the next generation of innovation is stamped, ‘Made in the U.S.A.’”
 
People can connect with TechElect online at www.techelect.org, or on Twitter (@TechElect), Facebook, or Google+.
 
Media Contacts
Meghan Fletcher
mfletcher@itic.org
(202) 524-4389
 
Tom Gavin
tgavin@itic.org
(202) 524-4397