When President Obama delivered his State of the Union address last week, many in the tech sector took note of the heavy emphasis he placed on issues at the heart of many companies’ policy agenda, including research and development and science and math education.
In the time since, the administration has dispatched senior officials and the president himself to promote the priorities of the new innovation agenda, an initiative that the White House underscored today with the release of a report outlining policy goals ahead of the unveiling of the fiscal 2012 budget.
But that budget battle could prove a tough slog for the president. Even though many of his proposals appear favorable to the business community, such as a lowering the corporate tax rate, congressional Republicans are suspicious of anything that resembles stimulus spending, and have already raised red flags over proposals to invest government resources in areas such as clean energy and high-speed rail.
But the administration is pressing ahead, with top White House economic advisers Austan Goolsbee and Gene Sperling arguing for recruiting more teachers in STEM subjects, expanded R&D, reforming the nation’s patent system, using government levers to spur new wireless broadband deployments and other aspects of Obama’s innovation agenda.
Datamation reports on the latest from the White House as Obama and his team put the finishing touches on the fiscal 2012 budget, and what’s in it for the tech sector.