Posts Tagged: "This Week in Washington IP"

This week in Washington IP events, Congressional hearings on technology and innovation take place through Wednesday, while the House Government Operations Subcommittee kicked the week off Monday afternoon with a look at the most recent round of government agency IT acquisition scores under FITARA. At noon on Tuesday, the House Cybersecurity Subcommittee discusses cybersecurity issues related to the 2020 elections. Over in the Senate, committee hearings will focus on cybersecurity recommendations from the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, cybersecurity in the energy sector, as well as oversight of the Federal Trade Commission. Elsewhere, the Aspen Institute explores innovations in carbon removal and democratic participation, while New America closes the week out with a conversation on racial equity in technological platforms.

This week in Washington IP news, technology and innovation hearings are in full swing on Tuesday and get started with a Senate IP Subcommittee hearing on the DMCA’s effects on the fair use regime under U.S. law, one of a series of hearings on DMCA modernization being held by that subcommittee this year. That same day, the Senate Energy Committee explores R&D in large-scale carbon management technologies and the Senate Communications Subcommittee discusses potential impacts to limited liability provisions for online service providers if the PACT Act passes into law. The House Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee will hold a hearing to review telework policies in the private sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. The week ends early on Wednesday with a pair of events hosted by the Brookings Institution which focus on national security policymaking in the AI era as well as ways that financial technology can improve payment systems for wage earners, especially low-income individuals who need those payments quickly.

This week in Washington IP news, the House of Representatives kicks off a series of tech-related hearings with a look at how the current pandemic has exposed issues in legacy IT systems in federal agencies. Later in the week, the House Oversight Subcommittee explores efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and the House Small Business Committee dissects issues with COVID-19 relief program processing at the Small Business Administration. The week ends with a Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing on the government’s spectrum policies for supporting 5G network deployment. Elsewhere, the Center for Strategic & International Studies looks at the highlights of a clean energy innovation report from the International Energy Agency while the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation discusses a recent strategy document from the European Commission on developing a data policy among member nations of the EU. 

This week in Washington IP news, the Senate remains in recess, but the House of Representatives features several committee hearings on the creation of a National Cyber Director office, the use of technologies for remote voting by House members and accelerating the pathway from basic research to commercialization in energy innovation. Elsewhere, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation hosts webinars on supporting biopharmaceutical sector innovation and legislative proposals to ban end-to-end encryption, while the Center for Strategic & International Studies explores nuclear energy innovation and hosts a discussion on innovation policy with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. 

This week in Washington IP news, a pair of committee hearings in the House take a look at the use of artificial intelligence in contact tracing and exposure notification programs related to COVID-19, as well as the role of the federal government in financial supporting U.S. R&D programs. While the Senate is quiet this week, policy institutes continue to host online events on various topics of political importance in the tech world. Potential biases in algorithmic models used for AI programs are the focus of events at New America and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, while the Aspen Institute will host an event Wednesday morning on the potential for algorithms to unearth biases hidden in our society. The American Enterprise Institute will also explore federal research programs, including the need for a major U.S. project to jump-start basic and applied research.

This week in Washington IP events, the Senate IP Subcommittee convenes a hearing to look at recent recommendations made by the U.S. Copyright Office regarding the systems of receiving copyright claim notices and taking down infringing content from online platforms under provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. While Congress remains mostly quiet, various think tanks will host online video webinars including the Center for Strategic & International Studies, which will explore a fictional depiction of the impact of the robotic revolution as well as innovative responses to the COVID-19 pandemic being developed by the retail and apparel industry.

This week in Washington IP news, both houses of Congress remain fairly quiet except for an executive session by the Senate Commerce Committee to discuss a few bills related to advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation hosts a pair of webinars Wednesday and Thursday exploring the United States’ potential implementation of a digital payment platform as well as ways the nation can improve the commercialization pipeline for climate change technologies. Elsewhere, New America focuses on the use of open source systems by government institutions through and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Center for Strategic & International Studies discusses the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s recent U.S. cybersecurity report.

This week in Washington, D.C., committee hearings in both houses of Congress remain silent during the COVID-19 shutdown. However, many D.C. think tanks have resumed their schedule of technology and IP policy events, which will be webcast for the foreseeable future. This week features a trio of events hosted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, including a Thursday event on the successes of medical innovation under Bayh-Dole and how that law is impacting the development of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. Elsewhere, New America examines digital security issues encountered during the world’s shift to work-from-home platforms, while the Hudson Institute explores how the pandemic has magnified global issues in the supply chain for the high-tech sector. Webcast details, including any registration requirements or question submission information, are available on the web page for each event.

This week in Washington, DC, the House of Representatives kicks off the week’s schedule for technology and innovation hearings with the House Communications Subcommittee marking up bills related to wireless spectrum auctions on Tuesday morning. Spectrum auctions will be discussed in both houses of Congress during hearings to examine the 2021 budget request for the Federal Communications Commission. On Tuesday, the Senate IP Subcommittee will hold a hearing to focus on how other countries counteract digital piracy. The week closes with a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing that will explore biotechnology regulatory frameworks that can impact gene editing and other agricultural technologies.

This week in Washington IP events, Congressional consideration of technology and innovation topics are limited to the House of Representatives, which will hold hearings in the middle of the week on topics such as the Trump Administration’s research and development budget for fiscal year 2021, the delayed rollout of Veterans Affairs’ electronic health record system, as well as innovative products in the lumber industry. Elsewhere in D.C., The Brookings Institution hosts an event exploring modernization efforts at the U.S. Navy and the Center for Strategic and International Studies focuses on ways to improve Internet infrastructure to aid lower-income economies in developing nations across the world.

This week in Washington IP events, it’s quiet on Capitol Hill as both the House of Representatives and the Senate enter work periods for the week following Monday’s Presidents’ Day holiday. However, the Center for Strategic & International Studies is hosting a series of events focused on situational awareness technologies for nuclear arms, the recent Privacy Framework from NIST and advances in energy storage technologies across the automotive and electrical grid industries. Elsewhere in DC, the Brookings Institution will explore issues involving the use of predictive AI analytics in the criminal justice system, and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation will discuss balancing business and national security interests in U.S. foreign export policy.

This week in Washington IP events on Capitol Hill, the Senate IP Subcommittee will hold the first of several hearings designed to explore the need to modernize Internet copyright law under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Elsewhere in the Senate, committee hearings will focus on cybersecurity for government and business communities as well as supporting key areas of space research. Over in the House of Representatives, Tuesday’s schedule features a busy lineup of hearings that will discuss, among other topics, commercialization of university research, issues related to autonomous vehicles and meeting workforce needs in the cybersecurity industry. On Wednesday, the House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence will address the reinforcement of bias by AI systems utilized in the financial industry.

This week in the Washington DC IP activities, House of Representatives committees will hold hearings focusing on the Department of Energy’s role in advancing biomedical sciences, kickstarting military defense innovation, promoting workers’ civil rights in the digital age and reviewing the SBIR and STTR small business innovation funding programs. On Thursday, other House committees will explore advances in carbon capture technology as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s use of facial recognition technologies. Elsewhere in D.C., the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation will host FCC Chairman Ajit Pai as he announces the agency’s plans for a C-band spectrum auction to support the development of 5G mobile networks.

This week in Washington-area IP events, the House of Representatives hosts a trio of hearings on Wednesday related to technology and innovation. The full House Science Committee also will explore reasons why the U.S. competitive advantage in technological development has been waning, and that committee’s Subcommittee on Communications will follow with a hearing that focuses on ways to improve broadband Internet adoption across American households. On Wednesday afternoon, the House Space Subcommittee will markup a NASA authorization bill that devotes resources towards a manned mission to Mars. On Thursday, the House Financial Technology Task Force will review the rise of mobile payment technology. Elsewhere in our nation’s capital, The Brookings Institution hosts an event to look at strategies for supporting technological innovation and development across a more geographically diverse swath of the United States.

This week in Washington, D.C., Congress is relatively quiet while the House of Representatives enters a district work period. In the Senate, the Commerce Committee will hold a hearing to explore ways to improve the workforce for the 5G industry to promote the buildout of necessary networking infrastructure in this country. The Library of Congress will host a pair of listening sessions to discuss the selection process for the next Register of Copyrights with members of the public. Elsewhere, the Center for Strategic and International Studies will host a series of events on technology issues later in the week, including smart city developments and national security concerns posed by emerging technologies.