The Chamber believes that technology has the power to transform every sector of the U.S. economy. For example, with a broadband connection, a business, regardless of its size or location, can sell to customers around the country and the world.
 
Congress recognized the stimulative effects of technology, and included significant funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (commonly known as the stimulus bill) to spur the deployment of broadband across the United States, to modernize the electric grid, and to improve the nation’s healthcare system through the use of information technology. 
 
Therefore, as part of its Getting America Back to Work series, the National Chamber Foundation held an event on March 4th titled A Pro-Tech Agenda: Rebooting the Digital Economy. Panelists discussed their views about the stimulus package, and whether it would put Americans back to work in meaningful jobs that will endure, bolster the nation’s economic competitiveness, and improve the quality of life for everyone. (See coverage on CNET and PCWorld)

 
Ms. Sharon Canner, Senior Director of Advocacy Programs for the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), talked about the health IT provisions which provide for $19 billion in funding.  In particular, she noted that this spending would create high-value IT jobs in electronic medical record installation, maintenance and upgrading; clinical systems analysis; record auditing/analysis; data coordination; and network/systems/infrastructure.
 
Dr. Robert Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, summarized key points from his paper titled The Digital Road to Recovery: A Stimulus Plan to Create Jobs, Boost Productivity and Revitalize America.  The main point of his presentation was that the government should focus on quickly distributing the stimulus funds to have the maximum effect on the economy.  He noted that investing in IT infrastructure offers superior job creation benefits because of the new applications, services, industries, and companies made possible by this technology.
 
Ms. Raquel Noriega, Director of Strategic Partnerships for Connected Nation, described the various components of the $7.2 billion of broadband funding included in the stimulus package. In particular, she discussed the importance of broadband mapping and the funding provided for that activity. She also noted that there are many provisions that still need to be fleshed out by government officials as they begin to develop rules that will determine how the funds are distributed and what restrictions, if any, will be imposed on recipients.
 
Dr. Jeffrey Eisenach, Chairman and a Managing Partner at Empiris LLC, lamented that broadband tax incentives were dropped from the final version of the stimulus package. To ensure that the broadband grants are put to the best use and are distributed as quickly as possible, he suggested that government officials should: 1) use states as intermediaries to evaluate proposals, so that federal grant reviewers are not overwhelmed by the sheer volume of applications; 2) give applications for unserved areas preference over those for underserved areas; 3) refrain from imposing additional open access/net neutrality requirements on grant recipients; and 4) limit funding to coverage of fixed costs.