BY CHRIS CARNEY SUSANA MARTINEZ AND BRADLEY A. SMITH
Technology is among the most powerful forces through which America’s timeless values have been transported into the 21st century. The open internet created by our country has, for instance, created a closer world where small businesses can reach new heights through a larger consumer base and ordinary citizens can realize extraordinary achievements through a louder voice.
U.S. technological innovation fosters economic opportunity and facilitates free expression. Just as one click can put a company in a new worldwide market, 280 characters can propel a cause to start a new worldwide movement. And during the dark depths of this pandemic, American technology has proven itself a particularly precious resource. At a time when much of society has been separated by social distancing, technology has been there to keep our country connected.
As foreign governments work to mimic such success and supplant our values with theirs – American enterprises with their state-run entities – the very same spirit that created the internet is now needed to help keep it free. Amid the flagrant encroachment of foreign-owned technology giants, it is more important than ever that we preserve America’s edge in the global technology marketplace. To achieve that, regulations and policies will need to preserve America’s edge in the innovation space and not threaten to form a vacuum that foreign nations with fundamentally different values will be eager to exploit.
Accordingly, the American Edge Project – a new coalition of organizations large and small – was recently formed to do just that: to help protect American innovation. The project represents a cross-section of U.S. innovators and businesses dedicated to ensuring that domestic technology companies can continue to compete – and that our country’s economy can continue to prosper.