5 questions for Suzan DelBene

Presented by CTIA - The Wireless Association: How the next wave of technology is upending the global economy and its power structures

Sep 30, 2022 View in browser   By Derek Robertson Presented by CTIA - The Wireless Association Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) | Elaine Thompson/AP Photo Welcome back to our regular Friday feature, The Future in Five Questions. Today we have Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), who represents Washington's First Congressional District. DelBene is the chair of the New Democrat Coalition and a former Microsoft executive, who has worked extensively on tech policy since her election to Congress in 2010. DelBene also helped found the "Reality Caucus," a bipartisan group of lawmakers formed to promote a better understanding in Washington of virtual reality technology. Responses have been edited for length and clarity. What's one underrated big idea? Telehealth. One of the silver linings of the pandemic was the broader adoption of telehealth technology that makes it easier for people in rural communities, workers with atypical schedules, & lower-income Americans to access basic medical services. The more we can do to increase the use of services, the sooner providers can catch and treat health problems. What's a technology you think is overhyped?  The metaverse. I'm a major proponent of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technology "XR" but the hype around the metaverse quickly shifted from excitement to jargon. Consumers, companies, and government should stay focused on the real-world medical, educational, and workforce promises of XR technology. I started and lead the Reality Caucus in the House to help educate my colleagues and the public about how this technology can help people. What book most shaped your conception of the future? The biggest thing that shaped my concept of the future was my time in biology research and technology. I spent a long career in companies large and small. I saw breakthroughs from email to smartphones and vaccines that were revolutionary at the time. If you could see what they looked like in their initial form you'd hardly recognize them. What's important to remember about many of these ideas and especially the people who developed them was that they didn't come from the usual suspects at the time. The book that best encapsulates some of these breakthroughs and ideas in technology is Walter Isaacson's 'The Innovators.' He paints a rich portrait of the Digital Revolution and how the legends in the tech space we think of today got their beginning. What could government be doing regarding tech that it isn't? Pass a national privacy law. Privacy is so foundational to everything technology related. We've made more progress on this front in the last few months than we have in any Congress before but that doesn't mean anything until we get something across the finish line. After the Supreme Court's appalling decision overturning the right to an abortion, many women realized their app, geolocation, and search data could be used against them because there's no federal privacy law. I've been working for years to change that because we're already so far behind on this front. What has surprised you most this year? The passage of the bipartisan CHIPS & Science Act. Passing this law will help boost American manufacturing and decrease our overreliance on foreign-made semiconductors. The global shortage of these components is driving up costs for families because they power almost every modern device from smartphones to laundry machines. I'm glad Congress was able to come together in the end and got this bill across the finish line.   A message from CTIA - The Wireless Association: 5G is fighting climate change. According to Accenture, 5G's impact across just five industries will help the United States meet 20% of its climate change goals by 2025. That's equivalent to taking nearly 72 million cars off the road. Learn more about how 5G is making this happen, and how wireless industry innovation and commitment is helping create a more sustainable future.   competitive advantage Miriam Vogel at POLITICO's AI & Tech Summit. | POLITICO Video It's been almost a year since the Biden administration called for an "AI bill of rights" that would "ensure that data-driven technologies reflect, and respect, our democratic values," as the White House's Eric Lander and Alondra Nelson wrote at the time. That official framework is still nowhere to be found, but Miriam Vogel, co-chair of the National AI Advisory Committee, reiterated that mission at yesterday's AI & Tech Summit , in the context of global competition with China — saying that "if we create AI that demonstrates our commitment to those values… then we win." When it comes to exactly what it is that the U.S. might "win," Vogel cited a recent report from the "Special Competitiveness Studies Project," a nonprofit co-created by Google's Eric Schmidt and aimed at bolstering the U.S.' competitive edge over countries like China or Russia. That report warns that "Understanding the stakes requires imagining a world in which an authoritarian state controls the digital infrastructure," and that "a losing scenario is plausible" — in short, a scenario where realities as abstract as digital freedom of speech and as concrete as Taiwan's sovereignty are threatened by democratic nations' falling behind on technologies like AI or chip manufacturing.   A message from CTIA - The Wireless Association:   surv-eh-llance state A Royal Canadian Mounted Police parade. | Getty Images Not everyone's souring on police use of facial recognition technology: Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police are still hoping to scale up their use of the technology, as POLITICO's Maura Forrest reported today. Although the RCMP aren't currently using facial recognition, pending an internal review, documents filed in Parliament revealed they've signed contracts with multiple companies. Canada is one of numerous countries to have banned or otherwise sanctioned Clearview AI, one of the most prominent and controversial purveyors of facial recognition and law enforcement. The list of countries where Clearview has been fined, banned, or otherwise sanctioned is long. In the United States, the company settled a lawsuit with the ACLU in May by agreeing not to sell its database to private actors — but use by law enforcement is still widespread despite a handful of local bans. As American tech companies continue to await the Biden administration's "AI bill of rights," facial recognition-based surveillance remains one of the rare uses for artificial intelligence that have inspired a more immediate public outrage and subsequent regulatory response.   SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.     the future in 5 links Advances in Tesla's self-driving tech might be more impressive than any humanoid robot. Meta is freezing hiring amid its pivot to the metaverse. Read a novelist's paean to AI art. What will the crypto world look like after its CEO exodus? An industry veteran believes China might power the next wave of Web3 gaming. Stay in touch with the whole team: Ben Schreckinger (bschreckinger@politico.com); Derek Robertson (drobertson@politico.com); Konstantin Kakaes (kkakaes@politico.com); and Heidi Vogt (hvogt@politico.com). Follow us @DigitalFuture on Twitter. If you've had this newsletter forwarded to you, you can sign up and read our mission statement at the links provided.   A message from CTIA - The Wireless Association: 5G is helping address the challenge of climate change.  These networks are unleashing new use cases across industries that are increasing efficiency and lowering emissions. 5G innovation across transportation, manufacturing, energy, agriculture and everyday life will transform the way we live and work – and have an equally transformative effect on our ability to tackle this generational challenge. According to Accenture, next generation 5G networks will help America meet 20% of our emission reduction goals by 2025. That's equivalent to taking nearly 72 million cars off the road. Learn more about how 5G is making this happen, and how wireless industry innovation and commitment is helping create a more sustainable future.     STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.       Follow us on Twitter Ben Schreckinger @SchreckReports Derek Robertson @afternoondelete Konstantin Kakaes @kkakaes Heidi Vogt @HeidiVogt   Follow us

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