Major IT vendors release policy agenda

Computerworld - WASHINGTON -- A group of influential high-tech CEOs today issued a report that calls on Congress and the Bush administration to support a broad range of training and education efforts and to avoid protectionist trade measures that could hurt the industry's global competitiveness and lead to a further loss of U.S. jobs.
The executives from the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP), which includes Dell Inc. CEO Michael Dell and Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO and Chairman Carly Fiorina, next month plan to urge the government to support three specific policy recommendations that they say are critical to bolstering the U.S. IT industry's global competitiveness.
Specifically, they want the government to expand support for research and development, maintain a business climate that rewards risk and entrepreneurship, and improve education and training.
Global competitiveness in the IT industry is stiffening, according to the report, "Choose to Compete: How Innovation, Investment and Productivity Can Grow U.S. Jobs and Ensure American Competitiveness in the 21st Century" (download PDF). In fact, between 1990 and 2000, the U.S. market share of IT hardware production shrank from 15.7% to 13.4%, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. In addition, U.S. technology companies face unprecedented competition from a growing list of multinational developers. In 2001, for example, foreigners filed nearly half of all U.S. technology patents.
According to the CSPP report, governments overseas are targeting the U.S. technology industry through tax breaks and subsidies for their companies, currency manipulation and incentives for worker training. Even so, the U.S. must be careful not to take steps that might ignite a trade war, the report warns.
"Any trade barriers created by the United States in an attempt to avoid global competition could lead to retaliation from our trading partners and even an all-out trade war -- resulting in a drag on the global economy and reduced employment here at home," the report said.
"Policy-makers face a choice," said Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel Corp. and chairman of the CSPP. "We can compete in the international arena or we can retreat. America can only grow jobs and improve its competitiveness by choosing to compete globally, and that will require renewed focus on innovation, education and investment."
"IT companies need ready access to foreign markets to compete for foreign business and keep Americans working to serve global customers," the report said. "Trade must work both ways; protectionist measures must be avoided in the United States as well as abroad."
But the U.S. must also invest more in education. "Americans who think that foreign workers are