Information Technology in a Time of Devolution
CPA Provides Resources for Policymakers to Navigate Our Technological World
During the 2000 legislative sessions, thousands of bills related to the Internet were proposed at the state level, on topics including content
control, privacy, intellectual property, infrastructure,
and taxation of electronic commerce. State
legislators, more than ever, need the resources to understand
the choices that information technology will present.
CPA’s Democracy and Technology Initiative seeks to help policymakers make sense of these issues.
CPA is helping forge lasting policy solutions by raising
the bar on the policy knowledge of state leaders
and advancing them into the national technology
debate, introducing and promoting new model policies,
and taking a more pro-active approach to help close
the gap between the information haves and have-nots.
By providing our network of state leaders with resources,
training, and links to partners, CPA will enrich the information policy debate
and convene stakeholders to collaborate on policy innovations, and, most
importantly, engage new voices in this critical policy arena.
Mastering the language and technical details of information technology policy
is a good goal, but not a sufficient one. If democracy is to be served, it will
not depend on the quality and character of our technology, but on the quality
and character of our political institutions, leaders and citizens. CPA seeks to
educate and, in that process, reinforce for legislators the broader democratic
leadership values that
play a role in 21st
century policy solutions. “As the rules of the new economy and Internet
technology are being developed, state leaders need to claim their seats at the
table to ensure citizen access to information technology,” states John Wilcox,
Director of CPA’s Democracy and Technology Initiative.
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Technology Policy Points of Interest
In a rapidly changing and technically complex
world, public responses to technology are lagging far
behind private ones. There is much at stake as we stand on
the edge of the new economy’s uncharted waters.
Recent technology headlines have sparked debate and
demonstrate the need for thoughtful solutions.
– Michael Powell, the newly appointed Chairman of
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC),
recently unveiled a sweeping reordering of the FCC’s
priorities that embraces a deregulated approach.
– In December 2000, the federal government
auctioned a number of wireless licenses—the rights to use
and sell pieces of the spectrum—and offered discounts
to small firms. The FCC’s effort to promote
competition instead saw the nation’s largest
telecommunication companies win more than 90 percent of the
licenses by striking deals with the smaller firms.
– After a federally-appointed blue ribbon
commission failed to reach agreement on whether and how to
tax internet commerce, a door has begun to swing
open for state action. The current moratorium on
taxation expires October 20, 2001—and although
federal legislation has been introduced to extend the ban
for another five years, 27 states have put forward legislation to simplify Internet taxes as well as
create a standardized taxing system.
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For more information about leading
state technology issues, click here.
