"We understand in the U.S. government that intellectual property is one of the most important forms of property you can have in a digital age," Mr. Bond, under secretary of Commerce for Technology, said in an interview posted this month on Gartner's Web site. "Yes, we have some real challenges but ultimately we're going to see the seeds of property ownership -- intellectual property ownership -- blossom."
Mr. Bond said he anticipates that a domestic self-interest will emerge to expand intellectual property rights in China, India and elsewhere as business and political leaders realize "now it's our property" that is vulnerable to piracy without strong legal protections. "Pressing the case for intellectual property around the world is absolutely fundamental going forward," he said.
In the interview, conducted by Gartner, Mr. Bond said the White House collaborates regularly with the U.S. technology industry to identify trade violations and seek appropriate action through the World Trade Organization. "Absolutely, it's got to be a partnership," he said. "We want to incent and unleash technology but do so in a way that also protects intellectual property." Technology industry executives understand the magnitude of revenues lost to piracy and major challenges in attacking the problem, he said.
On other topics in the interview, Mr. Bond made these points:
- IT jobs worldwide and in the U.S. It is inevitable that more and more technology jobs will be created worldwide because the global economy increasingly is technology-driven. The U.S. should aspire to continue as the world headquarters for innovation. To achieve this, "we have to be open to embracing human capital as well as maintaining the world's leading financial capital markets. That means a smart and balanced policy on H1Bs, visas and things like that -- all of which we are endeavoring to do."
- Open source. The Administration is neutral on open source vs. Microsoft Windows, seeing the competition as healthy. On one hand, Microsoft says that in terms of "total cost of ownership they have a superior product. Open-source innovators say no, they've got a better product. We are pro-innovation and see lots of innovation going on in the open source and the proprietary worlds."
- Identity theft. The Government and technology industry both have roles in combating identity theft and related digital crimes. For example, President Bush signed legislation last summer to stiffen penalties. New technologies to combat spam, phishing and related attacks may help authenticate electronic visual images. "I've learned not to bet against the technology."
- Digital inclusion. The reach of IT, especially broadband, will overcome many gaps in current rates of IT learning and application across various segments of the U.S. population. "We are getting closer in terms of accessibility" with broadband over power lines, Wi-Max, more spectrum for 3G and WiFi, and agriculture loans for rural deployment.
- Government-led R&D. In the past four years, the federal budget for basic research increased 6 percent annually, and 44 percent overall in R&D, much of it development driven by homeland security and defense requirements. "There is bipartisan agreement that it is the role of the federal government to do a lot of the long-term R&D."
- Education and tech. Advancing technology has great potential to benefit the teaching profession. The National Education Association agrees, but a huge cultural shift is required. "If educators become early adopters of cutting-edge technologies, especially information technologies, they would be able to
- train and skill-up generations and workforce segments faster and better than anyone in the world. That would maintain our advantage in a global economy."
- Nanotech. This new technology is touching people's lives in many ways, such as bacteria-fighting kitchen products, running boards for SUVs, or sun protection skin ointments. New manufacturing processes will accelerate the impact, with hybrids already evident in IT. "Nano-enabled molecular circuits will marry with silicon until you get to a pure molecular play" for instance, and then processes will emerge for "effective laser-printing and integrating circuits with nano-scale objects."
- Tech and public policy. Technology has created far more opportunity for citizen education and participation in policy debates. If opponents of technology advances are ignored in the debates, technology advocates will lose leadership. "Decisions should not be made behind closed doors anymore because people learn about them. In the absence of good information, urban legends will spring up. It's really important that the employer perspective not be lost. At the end of the day, it has to add up in a way that people can continue to create jobs and keep the economy moving."
