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Hollywood’s movie magic historically begins with the bark of “Lights? Camera? Action!” Last night, President Barack Obama urged Congress to join him in “a year of action,” and Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA), in her response, echoed that sentiment with a call for “real action.” It appears there is growing hope for some policy magic on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. We at ITI agree [...]
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As President Barack Obama prepares to deliver the State of the Union address tomorrow night, many reporters, political experts, and pundits are whirling about, attempting to predict the substance of the speech. Meanwhile, we here in the tech sector see this speech as a chance to outline an agenda of opportunity – a chance for policymakers to create economic opportunity for our country. Here are 10 [...]
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The 113th Congress is poised to have a second half that is potentially as spectacular and certainly more significant than the historic comeback by the Indianapolis Colts in the National Football League playoffs this past weekend. Much like the football analysts on ESPN, the policy punditocracy have given up on the prospect for any real productivity from this Congress. We in the tech sector, however, [...]
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Earlier this year, ITI unveiled its last iteration of Moving Education Forward: Strengthening STEM in Today’s Classrooms -- an excellent resource that spotlights many of our member companies and the investments they’ve made in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs that prepare our nation’s students and workers for today’s dynamic economy. Today, ITI moved this book and its content [...]
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Were Grace Hopper still alive, she’d turn 107 years young on Monday, December 9th. Grace Hopper, as I’m sure you know, served in the United States Navy with great distinction. She first enlisted in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) program in 1943, in the midst of the Second World War, and served in various roles in the Navy until 1986, when she retired as the oldest active-duty [...]
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Earlier this week, Congressman John Kline, the Chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, convened a hearing to discuss the increasing need for a reauthorized and revamped Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. First passed by Congress in 1984, the Perkins Act authorizes federal funds to supplement state and local investments in what was then known as vocational education, [...]
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This week’s House and Senate vote on a short-term deal to re-open the government and extend the federal debt ceiling was the symbolic equivalent of a stroke victim taking his first few tentative yet positive steps in rehab. It’s not a perfect metaphor to describe the legislative paralysis that has gripped Washington, but it works when we think about what Congress needs to do going forward. With congressional [...]
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Last week, Representative Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., introduced legislation that would redouble the nation’s focus on computer science. The legislation, the Computer Science in STEM Act of 2013 (H.R. 2982), would redefine STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in the COMPETES Act of 2010 to include computer science; establish grant programs for both K-12 schools and institutions of higher [...]
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This spring, my 9-year-old son decided he wanted to play Little League baseball, which means he'll now be facing a big transition in hitting expectations. At this level, all players are expected to hit live pitching. Throughout my son's youth baseball experience, he has advanced through a number of different skills stages - from hitting off the tee to coach pitching and now to live batting. And while [...]
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Earlier this month a bipartisan group of members in the House of Representatives introduced HR 2536, the Computer Science Education Act (CSEA). The CSEA is a modest and rather innocuous proposal that would redefine computer science as a “core academic subject” in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In the simplest terms, this means that federal funds could be used to support the teaching [...]