Tech Bashing, Like a Sport, Dings Industry Although Reality Is Better, Shapiro Says
Despite perception that “nothing is really going well in Washington,” CTA had successes this year, said CEO Gary Shapiro, opening the Innovate and Celebrate conference in San Francisco Tuesday. He referenced “major progress” on autonomous driving, citing legislation in the…
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Senate and House that would give states the right to test self-driving cars. CTA gets big and small companies together, Shapiro said. He highlighted drones, robotics, the IoT, artificial intelligence and connected health. Shapiro said “something’s changed in the last year, and that is, we are no longer the angel,” referring to the tech industry. “There’s a story line that’s starting to appear that we’re the bad guys -- especially some of the bigger companies -- and that’s a harsh glare.” The technology industry is in the spotlight, with the U.S. segment "kind of dominating the world,” he said, and that generates resentment. Incumbent industries including “taxi cab drivers, hotels and broadcasters,” Shapiro said, “see these new groups coming on, taking away what they view as their share of the pie that they owned 100 percent of. And tech-bashing in Washington … and in the press and around the world is starting to feel like a sport.” Those storylines don’t mesh with reality as CTA sees it. “The truth is, and we’ve got to get this truth out, is that technology empowers people,” he said, allowing anyone with a broadband connection to have access to education and entertainment, “which equalizes them and puts them above where anybody was 25 years ago.” Technology is a “neutral, fair, equalizer, and it’s not that expensive when it comes down to what it does.”