[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15047]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 COMMERCIALIZATION OF GOVERNMENT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (HEALTHY IT 
                               ECOSYSTEM)

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                            HON. TIM HOLDEN

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 9, 2004

  Mr. HOLDEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 
Government's vital role in developing a healthy and growing information 
technology sector.
  A variety of national and international studies indicate that the 
broad-based deployment of information technology can have a substantial 
impact on our nation's economic productivity and growth as well as the 
educational and social success of our citizens. Accordingly, it is our 
task to ensure that the Government formulates policies that foster the 
continued development of the IT sector while also providing for 
citizens' access to technology and opportunity for economic 
advancement.
  Among the most important ways that the Government can assure the 
robustness of our information technology sector and broad deployment of 
technology are by continuing to fund IT research and development and by 
adhering to technology-neutral policies that support market-based 
innovation, including by enabling firms to capitalize on the 
intellectual property they add to government-funded technologies. 
Private firms are generally willing to commercialize publicly funded 
research only if they can protect the intellectual property they 
contribute to the development process in a manner that allows them to 
secure a return on their investment. Thus, for example, it is vital 
that the government licenses software developed with public research 
funds under terms that enable private resources to develop such 
software into commercially viable products.
  Over the years, U.S. businesses and industry have proven extremely 
adept at developing successful new products from cutting-edge 
technologies. Many of the private sector's most successful products and 
technologies have been developed in no small part due to sound public 
policy that fosters innovation. This is especially true in the 
information technology sector. With the support of the Federal 
Government--both through funding and through technology-neutral 
policies that promote commercialization--we can ensure that the 
information technology sector remains robust and continues to innovate 
for the benefit of our economy and the health and welfare of our 
citizens.

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