On September 25, 2008, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., Silicon Flatirons partnered with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation to host an event focused on “Innovation Economics for the Next Administration.” The event brought together leading thinkers to explore challenges and opportunities related to innovation policy as a core part of our national economic strategy.
On September 25, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., Silicon Flatirons partnered with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation to host an event focused on “Innovation Economics for the Next Administration.” The event brought together leading thinkers to explore challenges and opportunities related to innovation policy as a core part of our national economic strategy. For the event’s agenda, click here.
The first panel discussed “Innovation Economics as the 21st Century Economic Doctrine,” with Rob Atkinson moderating a panel that included Michael Mandel, Chief Economist at Business Week, David Audretsch, Director of the Institute for Development Strategies at Indiana University, and Richard Lipsey, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Simon Frasier University. The panel evaluated the proper role of innovation as part of our national economic strategy, where the country was falling short, and how innovation policy could best be presented to the American public.
The second panel turned to “IT and Telecom Models of Governance and Policy Strategies,” focusing on the legal institutions and policy instruments that promote innovation. This panel, moderated by Phil Weiser, featured Michael Katz, Professor of Business at New York University, Jonathan Baker, Professor of Law at American University, and Pierre de Vries, Silicon Flatirons Adjunct Fellow and former Chief of Incubation at Microsoft. The panel focused the proper role of intellectual property policy, antitrust and competition policy, and government support for basic science and research as drivers of innovation and national competitiveness.
Finally, Rob Atkinson and Phil Weiser presented their prescriptions for innovation policy in the next administration to a panel of Ron Blackwell, Chief Economist of the AFL-CIO, Kathy Wallman, President of Wallman Consulting and former Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, Ray Gifford, Partner at Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert and former President, Progress and Freedom Foundation, and Bruce Mehlman, Partner, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy. A video of the conference is available here. The paper that Rob Atkinson presented at the conference is available here.