The Next Administration Should Harness the Power of American Tech

It's August of an election year, which means the presidential election is in full force. Right now, both candidates, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, and their selected vice presidential candidates, are building out their policy platforms and providing additional details about their priorities for the next administration.

Many are tuning into the respective party conventions to learn more about these policy platforms. Joining in on the national conversation, SIIA has helped host the Innovation Forum at both party conventions, an event in which industry leaders, experts, and policymakers come together to discuss the most pressing issues facing the tech industry and provide interesting perspectives that can help inform policy specifics for the next administration.

For both the Republican and Democratic tickets, there is still a lot to learn about their policy preferences for the expansive tech industry. Former President Trump and his vice presidential pick JD Vance did not spend much of their time at the convention outlining their plans for American tech. However, at the Republican convention Innovation Forum, Republican lawmakers joined industry experts and leaders for a robust discussion that dove into advancing American innovation, AI and the workforce, and views from Congress.

Just as in Milwaukee for the Republican convention, we are looking forward to hearing more in Chicago this week for the Democratic convention. We can glean perspective about the policy priorities for potential future administrations by examining the candidates' records. Looking at the Harris-Walz ticket, much attention has been paid to the Vice President's former role as a District Attorney for California, our nation's largest tech hub, as well as her record as a Senator from that same state. For his part, Governor Walz has taken a commonsense approach to cybersecurity, privacy and AI. As co-chair of the National Governors Association, he advocated to improve the nation's cyber resilience and he's also signed legislation that prohibits the nonconsensual dissemination of deepfake intimate images and the use of deepfakes to influence an election. We will be tuning into the Democratic National Convention this week to learn more about these particular policy platforms and additional details the candidates can provide.

The Innovation Forum aims to inform the larger conversation about the tech industry and show how American innovation is helping to drive economic growth, provide America a competitive edge across a multitude of industries, and help foster a better, brighter world. We hope that both presidential contenders take note, and lay out an agenda that helps harness the power of America's technology industry for the benefit of the American people.