Recapping the GOP and DNC Conventions
By Tiffany Moore, VP Congressional Affairs, Consumer Technology Association (CTA)
While accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for President, Hillary Clinton declared “In my first 100 days, we will work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II. Jobs in manufacturing, clean energy, technology and innovation, small business, and infrastructure.”
When the Republican Party released its 2016 Party Platform, they highlighted the ‘digital revolution’ our nation is experiencing and acknowledged the critical roles technology, innovation and trade play in driving our economy, creating good jobs and strengthening our international competitiveness.
Never before have technology and innovation issues played such a prominent role in the national policy and political conversation, as they will in the 2016 election.
Back in June, the Clinton campaign released a detailed technology and innovation agenda, becoming the very first major presidential candidate in this election cycle to put these issues front-and-center in the national policy debate.
Whether you agree or disagree with every policy initiative the campaign put forward, it was impressive that they took the initiative in the first place.
One of the glaring omissions from the Republican Party’s convention in Cleveland was the failure to acknowledge technology and innovation during any of the primetime addresses.
To this point, the Trump-Pence campaign has failed to produce a substantive agenda that recognizes the role that technology and innovation play in our economy. Let’s be honest; there can be no viable economic growth strategy that ignores this substantial component of public policy in the 21st Century.
With every election cycle, we see how technology and innovation touch every part of our day-to-day routines. These issues are more than a box to check in a speech. They are at the heart of any realistic debate about our country’s economic health.
Between now and November, both campaigns will be competing to prove to the American people that they are best equipped to create jobs, grow GDP, foster a more productive environment for enterprises to thrive, get better trade deals, get a handle on cyber-security and broaden internet access.
Like most things, the devil is in the details.
The Clinton-Kaine campaign have put forward their ideas and vision, when will we get to see some substance from the Trump-Pence ticket?
Regardless of what happens in November, our team couldn’t have survived Cleveland and Philly without Airbnb, Lyft, Uber and Yelp. We saw first-hand the instrumental role disruptive innovators like these had in making the visitor experience that much more enjoyable. Convention attendees stayed at Airbnbs, moved about via Uber and Lyft, and navigated unfamiliar cities with Yelp. The biggest takeaway from these two weeks is that the sharing economy is providing necessary services, while allowing everyone to be entrepreneurs. And the elected officials who flocked to convention witnessed just how technology is improving lives — for the better.
