News Stories Archives

BIAC Hackathon Showcases Talents of Global Tech Community

Published on June 23, 2016
Angel Gurria (OECD) and Peter Robinson (USCIB) present the Hackathon award to the grand prize winner, Nisi Vitae
Angel Gurria (OECD) and Peter Robinson (USCIB) present the Hackathon award to the grand prize winner, Nisi Vitae

As the OECD Digital Economy Ministerial brought together stakeholders this week in Cancun, Mexico to discuss the ways in which the digital economy has enabled global innovation, growth and social prosperity, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD in cooperation with the Mexican government and the OECD organized a coding contest, known as a Hackathon, to demonstrate the power of digital innovation.

On June 20-21, teams of coders gathered in Cancun to compete for several awards and cash prizes by developing apps within the following categories: cultural heritage, smart city, social inclusion and entrepreneurship. The winning team was announced at the OECD Ministerial dinner whose speakers included OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría. USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson and Mexican Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal.

“This has been an exciting example of public-private collaboration here at the 2016 Digital Economy Ministerial,” Robinson said as he introduced the Hackathon category winners at the Ministerial gala. “This contest for young coders and app developers attracted nearly 200 participants from both OECD and non-OECD Member countries – demonstrating that the potential for innovative talent knows no boundaries.”

Robinson, Gurria and Guajardo then presented the Hackathon category and grand prize winners:

Smart City Category Winner – Nisi Vitae
They developed an app that enables a user to automatically provide all of their medical information to emergency response personnel when calling for an ambulance.

Entrepreneurship Category Winner – Autonomi
This team developed an app that is aimed at increasing security and independence for the visually impaired.

Cultural Heritage Category Winner – Time Stamps
Their app makes studying history more immersive for teenagers.

Social Inclusion Category Winner – VR-ehab
They developed an app that converts physical rehabilitation into a game using an Android Virtual Reality environment and a hand movement detection system.

Grand Prize Winner – Nisi Vitae

As the U.S. affiliate of BIAC, USCIB has played an active role in planning the Hackathon. The Hackathon was also made possible by the following USCIB member sponsors: AT&T, Cisco, Disney, Google, Intel, Oracle, Microsoft and Verisign.

OECD Secretary General Addresses the Washington Trade Community

Published on June 22, 2016
Mulligan WITA
L-R: Rob Mulligan (USCIB), Nancy Donaldson (ILO), Ken Ash (OECD) and Shawn Donnan (Financial Times)

On June 17, USCIB participated on a panel organized by the Washington International Trade Association with the OECD on Trade and Inclusiveness, which followed a speech by OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria. Gurria delivered key points to an audience of over 80 people about the importance of trade and investment for economic growth.

Rob Mulligan, USCIB’s senior vice president for policy and government affairs, participated on a panel moderated by Shawn Donnan (Financial Times) and talked about the 10 recommendations that the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD made for increasing productivity, growth and prosperity. The recommendations included the need to address cross border trade barriers, improve regulation and regulatory cooperation, provide an environment conducive to investment, encourage lifelong learning, create a framework that supports innovation and the digital economy, and flexible labor markets.

There was a loose consensus among the speakers that policies to open trade and investment had to be supported by complimentary policies that facilitate opportunities for all to benefit from growth generated by trade. In the questions from the moderator the panel touched on global value chains, localization requirements, competitiveness, the changes in trade agreements over the last 20 years as well as several other topics.

Other panelists included Ken Ash (OECD) and Nancy Donaldson (International Organization of Employers).

USCIB will be organizing a trade and investment conference in Washington, D.C. in September.

BIAC: Strengthen SME Financing and Global Growth

Published on June 22, 2016

Money_globeIn response to the current low growth trap facing many economies, the newly released publication, “Financing Growth; SMEs in Global Value Chains,” advocates G20 policy consistency for long-term financial stability, investment and economic growth. It shares perspectives from government, international organizations, business and academic thought leaders.

“For SMEs to participate in global value chains and underpin economic recovery, urgent actions are needed at G20 level to better coordinate financial regulations, strengthen access to financing and training and support the sharing of information through digital platforms,” said Bernhard Welschke, BIAC secretary general, commenting ahead of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in July in Chengdu.

The publication builds on a Roundtable event held on May 31 in Paris, co-organized by BIAC, B20 China, OECD, World SME Forum and SME Finance Forum.

The publication Financing Growth; SMEs in Global Value Chains is available online here: http://biac.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Financing-Growth-SMEs-in-Global-Value-Chains.pdf

For further details about the Roundtable held on May 31, please see a video summary here: https://youtu.be/nVbwdLuoEMU and webpage here: http://biac.org/?p=13715

Improving Opportunities for Women in the United States

Published on June 20, 2016

Portrait of happy young businesswomanWomen’s economic opportunities have greatly improved in the United States over past decades; however, numerous challenges remain to further reduce gender inequalities. Continued progress will require reforms such as paid parental leave, flexible working arrangements, changes in job structure and remuneration, and increased access to quality pre-school and childcare.

Ronnie Goldberg, USCIB’s senior counsel, attended an event hosted by the OECD Washington Center titled “Improving Opportunities for Women in the United States.” The event highlighted the main findings of the OECD Economic Survey of the United States on improving opportunities for women, as well as provided a platform for high-level policymakers, researchers and business leaders to share what is being done by governments and the private sector to address gender inequalities in the workplace.

The discussion took place following the White House Summit on the United State of Women. Other speakers included OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría and U.S. Ambassador to the OECD Daniel Yohannes.

Goldberg spoke at a panel on “Championing better policies for women in the workplace,” in which she talked about what companies are doing to stop the “leaking pipeline” phenomenon in which women drop out at every successive management level, leading to severe under-representation of women in corporate leadership roles.

Read the OECD Economic Survey of the United States

Ending Child Labor is Everyone’s Business

Published on June 15, 2016

Over 168 million children are still trapped in child labor around the world. As supply chains have become more increasingly complex, the risk of child labor is present in all supply chains, and all enterprises must be vigilant to ensure that their supply chains are free from child labor. Because child labor occurs largely in the informal economy in areas where law enforcement is weak or absent, abuses often go undetected. Governments must step up their efforts to tackle the problem.

The theme of this year’s World Day Against Child Labor, which took place on June 12, is ending child labor in supply chains. USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson gave introductory remarks at an event titled “End Child Labor in Supply Chains: It’s Everyone’s Business,” on June 9 at UNICEF headquarters in New York. The event was hosted by the International Labor Organization (ILO), UNICEF, the United States Fund for UNICEF and the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations. Argentinian UN Ambassador Martín García Moritán gave keynote remarks on the importance of child labor eradication.

Robinson reaffirmed USCIB’s commitment to eliminating child labor. As the International Labor Organization’s (IOE) regional vice president for North America, Robinson highlighted the many ways in which employers have contributed to the fight against child labor, including the IOE-ILO Child Labor Guiddance Tool for Business and the 2007 IOE-ILO Guides for Employers on Eliminating Child Labor. USCIB has also worked to educate companies on the tools available to address child labor in supply chains, for example through a recent webinar USCIB hosted with UNICEF.

“The IOE and its member federations play an active role both within countries and internationally in combating child labor and advocating global access to education for children around the world,” Robinson said. “We view child labor, particularly in its most dangerous and exploitative forms, as intolerable both because of its inhumanity and the negative long-term consequences for the economic and social well-being of the children concerned.”

During the event, panelists discussed best practices and approaches that companies have adopted to respect children’s rights and eliminate child labor.

“Like all of you, we in the business community view this as a shared responsibility,” Robinson concluded. “Companies at all levels must work to root out child labor from their supply chains, while states must improve accountability and governance, which, I might add, has the added benefit of improving a country’s overall investment climate.”

ICC Americas Chapters Express Support for Venezuelan Colleagues

Published on June 13, 2016
Heads of the ICC Americas Regional Group
Heads of the ICC Americas Regional Group

Representatives of the national chapters of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in the Americas gathered to express their support for maintaining democracy and the right to free enterprise in Venezuela. As a tense situation worsens in Venezuela, over 17 business organizations – including USCIB – representing more than 1 million companies in America and Spain condemned the unjustified actions of the Venezuelan government against the private sector and the Venezuelan people.

“The actions taken by the Venezuelan government are a clear violation of basic civil rights, attacking human dignity, intimidating the population, and veiled by corruption and impunity,” the ICC chapters said in a statement. “Urgent action must be taken to create a climate of trust based on respect towards the population  that promotes stable and strong relationships that benefit the majority of Venezuelans and not only the privileged in power.”

The business organizations said Venezuela will not reach the path of development and well-being by attacking the private sector, imprisoning executives or union leaders and limiting Venezuelans’ access to their basic rights.

“In a republican government system the separation of powers is a fundamental necessity for freedom,” the statement said. “The checks and balances of a democratic system find strength and virtue in this separation so as to mitigate possible future power struggles.”

USCIB Explains How Trade Associations Help Bolster Transnational Governance

Published on June 13, 2016
Helen Medina
Helen Medina

How can trade associations, with their broad industry networks, help develop standards and rules  for their members both in and across borders? On June 10 USCIB’s Vice President for Product Policy and Innovation Helen Medina participated in a conference organized by the Rutgers Law School Center for Corporate Law and Governance, the International Organizations Interest Group (IOIG) of the American Society for International Law, and the Rutgers Institute for Professional Education.

The “Industry Associations and Transnational Governance Conference” brought together practitioners and scholars to discuss the role of trade associations in transnational governance. The aim was to obtain a deeper understanding of how trade associations develop and administer standards and rules for their members and their industries both within and across borders. The discussion also informed the audience how industry associations are involved in formal law-making or soft-rule making bodies of governments and international organizations.

The conference gave Medina a unique opportunity to speak about why industry is interested in international organizations and how the various institutions engage with industry associations and civil society. Medina outlined why it is important for industry to participate in policy discussions and reminded participants that good regulatory outcomes are built on the cooperative effort among government, regulators, the regulated and the broader stakeholder community.

“Policymakers understand this concept of consulting with stakeholders and the importance of having various perspectives in rule making,” Medina said. “Industry associations are often called upon to provide input as experts on a certain topics.”

She spoke about the importance of using a whole-society approach to dealing with global challenges and industry associations and their members play a huge part in bringing solutions to the economy and marketplace.

US Business Concerned with China’s Cybersecurity Regulations

Published on June 10, 2016

china_flag_large-600x300Ahead of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue which took place in Beijing on June 6-7 convening high-level officials to discuss trade, finance, security and the environment, USCIB and other business organizations sent a letter to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission citing concerns with China’s proposed technology regulations (“Provisions”).

“If adopted as currently drafted, however, the Provisions would create unnecessary obstacles to international trade and likely to constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination against producers and service providers in countries where the same conditions prevail,” USCIB and others stated in the letter. “As a consequence, we have concerns that the Provisions could constitute an unnecessary obstacle to international trade.”

The business community asked China to postpone the adoption of the Provisions to allow for further stakeholder input, and to ensure that China’s cybersecurity regulations avoid unnecessary commercial disruptions.

Additionally, on June 13 the United States and other World Trade Organization members expressed concerns about proposed Chinese insurance regulations that they claim favor home-grown technologies over those of foreign producers.

Read the full letter.

 

USCIB Hails US Approval of Internet Stewardship Transition Proposal

Published on June 10, 2016

globe_computerNew York, N.Y., June 9, 2016 – The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) is pleased that the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has found that the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Stewardship Transition proposal meets the criteria NTIA set forth in announcing its intention to transition the U.S. stewardship of the Internet domain name system (DNS) technical functions to the global mulitistakeholder community.

“NTIA’s approval of the plan highlights its strength and the broad support it has received from all stakeholders,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson. “We have worked tirelessly to help shape a plan that will enable a seamless transition of DNS stewardship functions and preserve the fundamental openness of the Internet, and we’re thrilled that NTIA shares our view.”

USCIB members actively contributed comments during all aspects of the two year development of both the IANA Stewardship Transition proposal and the related Enhanced ICANN Accountability proposal. On March 10 USCIB expressed support for the two-proposal package and urged NTIA to approve it on grounds that it, indeed, provided a framework that would meet NTIA’s criteria and preclude capture of DNS stewardship by a government or governmental entity. NTIA’s announcement today re-confirms USCIB’s view that the March 10 proposal best ensures the continued stability, security, and resiliency of the DNS system as well as fundamental openness of the Internet.

About USCIB:
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world. With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More at www.uscib.org.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, USCIB
+1 917.420.0039, jhuneke@uscib.org

More on USCIB’s ICT Committee

Light Touch Regulation is Best for Internet of Things

Published on June 9, 2016

Womans controls Internet of Things in smart home with appOn June 2, USCIB responded to a request for comment by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on “The Benefits, Challenges, and Potential Roles for the Government in Fostering the Advancement of the Internet of Things.” In a letter addressed to Lawrence Strickling, assistant secretary for communications and information at the U.S. Department of Commerce, USCIB said the Internet of Things (IoT) offers a broad range of economic, social, commercial and societal benefits provided governments avoid burdensome regulations that would hamper the creation of IoT.

The IoT is composed of a broad group of devices and technologies that include sensors incorporated into various everyday “things,” along with enabling applications and cloud-based analytical platforms.  Objects such as wristbands, cars and other “smart” devices have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data. U.S. businesses and society as a whole stand to gain a great deal from the advancement of IoT technologies.

“The potential for IoT will not be fully realized, however, by burdensome regulations, top-down government imposition of standards, insufficient network infrastructure, and policies that force data to remain inside national borders,” said Barbara Wanner, USCIB’s vice president for information and communications technology policy in the letter to Secretary Strickling. “The U.S. Government must use its negotiating authority to fight the proliferation of polices and regulations that would hamper the development of IoT.”

In order to leverage the full potential of these new technologies, USCIB made the following recommendations with regard to IoT policy:

  • Light touch regulation – USCIB urged the U.S. government to adopt a light touch regulatory framework that is interoperable so that users throughout the world can benefit from IoT technologies. Given that regulations already exist that apply to IoT, there should be evidence of real harms before additional regulations are considered.
  • Voluntary standards – USCIB business urged governmental support aimed at encouraging private sector collaboration in open and global standardization efforts to develop technological best practices and voluntary standards for technical interoperability. Top-down standards imposed by governments which would quickly become outdated, according to USCIB.
  • U.S. leadership in reducing regulatory barriers – USCIB called on the U.S. government to lead efforts to reduce regulatory barriers to IoT development around the world, and asked the United States to help prevent other countries from using foreign policies aimed at leap-frogging technology development that restrict the market access of U.S. businesses.
  • Broader digital economy architecture – “Care should be given to considering important “back end” technologies important to enable IoT, such as cloud computing,” USCIB stated in the letter.

IoT and other important issues in digital economy policy will be discussed at the upcoming OECD Digital Economy Ministerial in Cancun on June 21 to 23. USCIB will be on the ground in Cancun representing member interests at the ministerial. Visit the OECD’s website for more information.

Read USCIB’s full comments