Advance Tax & Regulatory Policies that Spur Innovation and Grow Our Economy
The US technology industry is a $1 trillion market and employs nearly 7 million Americans. Fiscal discipline and targeted funding for investments in innovation are essential to continue economic growth. We support reasonable tax policies that promote innovation, entrepreneurship, and capital investment.
Ensure simplicity and fairness in interstate taxation:
- Interstate sales tax legislation should not result in additional compliance burden to businesses, and any legislation should include a small business exemption;
- Reduce compliance burdens on today’s digital workforce by enacting the “Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act;”
- Support certainty in sales tax applications by enacting the “Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act;” and
- Support fairness in interstate business activities by enacting the “Business Activity Tax Simplification Act.”
Lead in Secure Internet Based Platform Technologies
Economic expansion in IT rests on the creation of new and innovative business models that leverage trusted, secure and accessible Internet based platforms. We support common sense data and cybersecurity policies that secure our networks and promote responsible use of consumer data so the technology experience can continue to expand and improve.
- Enhance national cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection through support for an environment that fosters real time threat sharing between the government and the private sector and addresses the bad actors.
- Support an incentive-based voluntary approach to cybersecurity (articulated in Executive Order 13636 and its directive to the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) to develop a framework) that utilizes industry best practices and promotes voluntary adoption; and
- Establish greater penalties for cybercriminals to deter and combat bad actors, and punish criminals.
- Support a national standard for data breach notification that pre-empts the patchwork of state laws to allow entities to focus on notification and resolving the breach instead of compliance with a myriad of conflicting laws;
- Develop sensible definitions around nascent technologies such as biometrics and geolocation to ensure neutrality while still allowing for technological advancements;
- Encourage Congress to support industry-led standards for consumer data security and privacy for both IoT devices and the broader tech industry as opposed to passing legislation mandating specific regulations on data collection, usage and storage;
- Support continued innovation in encryption technologies and working with Congress and law enforcement to establish frameworks for securing data while exploring collaborative approaches to helping law enforcement keep Americans safe; and
- Support surveillance reforms to continue to rebuild trust across the Atlantic and promote even enforcement of the GDPR and continued renewal of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.
Support New and Emerging Technology Platforms through Thoughtful Policies
Advancements in cloud computing, mobility, machine to machine (M2M), and unified communications platforms, the growing commercial significance of unmanned aerial vehicles, and other applications such as mobile payments are rapidly creating new opportunities for economic advancement while also raising a host of new public policy considerations.
- Work to establish the investment, regulatory and legal environment that will allow broader adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT):
- Promote Congressional passage of the DIGIT Act (S.88);
- Work with the stakeholder community to continue to develop and strengthen the DHS and NIST IOT Security Frameworks;
- Work within the NTIA IOT Security Updatability working groups, seek a common set of IOT related standards; and
- Monitor and address any IOT security related legislation.
- Work with the CompTIA stakeholder community to help define and advocate for the role of smart technology in the 21st century infrastructure ecosystem;
- Work with the smart community stakeholder community to continue to seek advancements that will lead to more widespread adoption of smart technology products and services;
- Seek policy advancements and best practices around cloud, mobility, big data, open data, data analytics, blockchain and unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Continue to support and collaborate with the Big Data Regional Innovation Hubs;
- While remaining mindful of legitimate privacy and safety implications, resist over-regulation of unmanned aerial vehicles that would unnecessarily curtail legitimate commercial uses; and
- Monitor the ongoing discussions on artificial intelligence and automation as they pertain to both the 21st century technology workforce and the Internet of Things.
- Continued advocacy efforts for the two Smart Cities Bills: the Smart Cities and Communities Act of 2017 (HR 3895) and the Smart Technology for Resilient, Efficient, Economic and Reliable Transportation in Cities and Communities Act (HR 4151)
- Work to establish a nurturing regulatory and legislative environment that will allow the broader adoption of autonomous vehicles and other vehicle technology. In particular, strongly advocate for the SELF DRIVE Act and
AV Start Act.
Support Skills for the 21st Century Workforce
CompTIA uniquely sits at the intersection of innovation, education and economic growth. We support policies that expand life-long education in the computer sciences and basic IT skills, and promote a skilled workforce that spurs job growth and our ability to compete globally.
- Support the workforce by enacting the “Championing Apprenticeships for New Careers and Employees in Technology Act,” as well as the “Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act;”
- Advocate for policies that emphasize early academic support for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) instruction and carry these efforts through higher education institutions, to prepare students and workers for lifelong learning opportunities;
- Support the reasonable use and responsible stewardship of student data by schools, districts, and service providers, such as analyzing student data to deliver personalized learning experiences and improve products for use;
- Support and develop initiatives that encourage minorities, veterans and under-represented communities to pursue IT career paths;
- Recognize that the ability to recruit and retain the strongest workforce means supporting an inclusive workplace – one that welcomes people of all faiths, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity;
- Ensure the government workforce has necessary IT
security skills:
- Support the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE); and
- Seek adequate awareness support and funding for government IT workforce recruitment, training, certification and retention.
- Support high-skilled immigration reform:
- Increase green cards for high-skilled STEM graduates;
- Create new visas for U.S. educated students and entrepreneurs to lessen the demand on the H-1B category;
- Adopt market-based visa caps; and
- Grow domestic sources of talent through support of STEM at all levels of education.
Address Availability and Delivery of Broadband Communications
The Internet is the infrastructure of the global economy. To ensure innovation, economic growth and social interaction, it is imperative that we keep the Internet open, encourage deployment of new, faster broadband networks and find ways to get more Americans online.
- Support an open internet through rules prohibiting blocking, throttling, commercially unreasonable paid prioritization, and other anticompetitive behavior by ISPs.
- Support policies that improve broadband competition and the growth of IoT by removing barriers to the deployment of broadband infrastructure, including wireless infrastructure such as small cells.
- Promote policies to get more Americans online and to increase broadband adoption.
- Advocate for policies to make more spectrum available for licensed, lightly licensed, and unlicensed use to support 5G, IoT, and rural broadband on an exclusive or shared basis, including for implementing incentives to encourage government spectrum users to share, sell or lease their spectrum.
