What IT Wants From The Next White House

PAUL OTELLINI Bio: President & CEO of Intel Corp., Santa Clara, Calif. Endorsing: Declined to state The Skinny: The top executive at the top semiconductor company in the world is understandably big on innovation. Otellini argues that lower corporate taxes, more R&D funding and incentives, and a major upgrade for our 'outdated' patent system are all needed to maintain U.S. high-tech leadership.

WHAT HE WANTS FROM THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION:

Among our biggest issues is the competitiveness of the U.S. and our high-tech industries that help fuel America's growth. Take the R&D tax credit, for example. Without a doubt, this credit helps keep innovation and high-paying R&D jobs in the U.S. Yet our lawmakers have let the credit expire repeatedly over the years, instead filling the gap with repetitive short-term extensions which, frankly, have negative financial consequences and disrupt research planning. This key credit should be enhanced and made permanent as soon as possible. We would also like to see a cut to the corporate tax rate, which also has significant impact on U.S. companies' ability to compete.

A related issue is the failure to boost funding for basic research in our national labs and universities. We need the political will to provide the funding that was agreed to by Congress and the President last year with the America Competes Act. Longer-term, of course, the U.S. needs to strengthen math, science, and engineering education at the K-12 through graduate school levels, something Intel is very committed to and devotes over $100 million to annually. But to ensure U.S. competitiveness in the meantime, employers have to have timely access to highly skilled foreign nationals.

We also would like to see the next administration continue to support the advancement of trade agreements worldwide in order to improve access to markets around the world. Globalization of trade can cause difficult economic adjustments, so we strongly support appropriate measures to re-train workers to mitigate these impacts. A final issue to mention is the outdated U.S. patent system, which fosters questionable patents and frivolous litigation that hinders innovation and raises costs to companies and prices to consumers.

Next: Bill Gates