Use the power of technology to make government more responsive and effective, and understand the significance of high-skilled immigration to our national economy – both themes dominated our May 7th agenda when nearly 50 tech executives met in Newark, N.J., to hear from Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Robert Feldstein from New York Mayor Bloomberg’s office. This was the official kick-off of the Tri-State TechVoice Chapter, a collaboration between CompTIA, the New Jersey Technology Council, the New York Technology Council and the Connecticut Technology Council. Mayor Booker and Mr. Feldstein each implored the audience to get involved through efforts like TechVoice in the debates of the day that impact the tech industry and our citizenry at large.
While you can view the entire event here, some of the highlights of the morning session included Feldstein’s presentation on why high-skilled immigration is so important to our national economy and global competitiveness.
- Of the top 10 research universities in the United States, 76 percent of the patents awarded went to foreign-born students or professors.
- Every foreign STEM worker with an advanced U.S. degree creates nearly three new jobs.
- Forty percent of Fortune 500 companies have been founded by immigrants or their children.
Feldstein encouraged the audience to speak up and tell members of Congress that comprehensive immigration reform should include provisions green cards for STEM graduates, an entrepreneur visa, market-based caps on high-skilled visas and more green cards for economic needs.
Mayor Booker echoed the importance of high-skilled immigration but also, significantly, noted that while immigration is a short-term need, the longer-term solution has to be improved education here in the United States and moving more young people into STEM-related education and career paths.
The majority of Mayor Booker’s remarks, however, were devoted to the power of technology to truly democratize our government and our nation. He noted that when there are tools at our fingertips to gauge how government is serving the public – the efficiency of our public services, the rapidity of our public transit, the real time impact of our government expenditures – then the American public can truly determine how government best serves them. More, they can flatten the hierarchy that exists today between the people and their elected officials and insist that representative government serve the public interest in functional and meaningful ways.
I cannot think of a better way to launch a TechVoice chapter than with such a call for action – not only that your government should work for you but that you should demand through your participation that it be so. TechVoice is a grass roots advocacy network that embodies just this sentiment.
