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SIIA Joins Several Organizations in Urging Congress to Pass the SAMOSA Act for Federal IT Cost Savings

by Policy
SIIA joins several organizations in urging Congressional leaders to pass the Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets (SAMOSA) Act before the session ends. This bipartisan legislation aims to reduce wasteful spending in federal agencies by requiring independent reviews of software management practices. The letter points out that restrictive software licenses and inadequate tracking of IT purchases have led to inefficiencies, and the SAMOSA Act could save the government an estimated $750 million annually. The organizations stress the need for responsible IT spending and call for immediate legislative action.
Full Letter Here
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SIIA Statement on No Fakes

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The following statement can be attributed to Paul Lekas, Senior Vice President, Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).

SIIA shares the goal of preventing harm from deepfakes and we recognize there is a gap in current law. However, the No Fakes Act is too broad. We believe better solutions lie in targeted regulations like the Defiance Act which focuses on bad actors and harmful content. The No Fakes Act in its current form is not the answer.

We urge lawmakers to reconsider this approach and work toward more tailored proposals to address the problem of malicious deepfakes.

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SIIA Attends White House and U.S. Department of Education Summit on Digital Equity, Inclusion, and Emerging Technology

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The following can be attributed to Paul Lekas, Senior Vice President, Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).

The Software & Information Industry Association is honored to have joined leaders from across the country at the White House and U.S. Department of Education Summit on Digital Equity, Inclusion, and Emerging Technology, held on August 15. The Summit provided an opportunity to explore ways that educators, policymakers, and vendors can collaborate to improve the sustainability of and equitable access to education technology.

We congratulate Digital Promise on their new publication – Framework for Digital Equity, released to coincide with the August 15 Summit.  The Framework for Digital Equity includes a set of guidelines, principles and policy recommendations designed to address the digital divide that exists nationwide.  Focusing on the principles of innovation, improvement and sustainability, Digital Promise lays out the groundwork for addressing digital equity for state level K-12 and higher education systems.

SIIA looks forward to working with the White House, the Department of Education, and non-governmental groups like Digital Promise to further the solutions explored at the Summit. As a trade organization representing leading companies in the field of education technology, SIIA is proud to collaborate with Digital Promise and its mission to promote digital equity, while also advancing the efforts to enhance all learners’ educational experiences in the digital world.

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SIIA Statement on California SB 1047 AI Bill

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The following statement can be attributed to Paul Lekas, Senior Vice President, Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).

SIIA remains concerned about California’s SB 1047 AI bill though we recognize positive changes were made to the version that passed out of Appropriations Committee last week. Our broader concerns remain: SB 1047 will create burdens for innovators without addressing the need for a consistent approach to AI safety. Rather than rushing an approach on the state level that could fragment the AI landscape, oversight should be coordinated at the federal level. This is a concern that has also been raised by several California legislators, who are rightly concerned about the impact this will have on the state’s startup community, scientific development, and the trajectory of further protections against the potential harms posed by AI. As described in our recent piece in the Los Angeles Times, there’s an urgent need to focus efforts on building standards around AI safety and lawmakers should focus on resourcing the NIST AI Safety Institute to ensure a consistent approach to U.S. frontier model development that does not hinder continued innovation.

As California lawmakers consider numerous bills to address important issues around AI this session, we urge them to hit pause on SB 1047 to avoid unintended consequences.

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The Next Administration Should Harness the Power of American Tech

by Policy

It’s August of an election year, which means the presidential election is in full force. Right now, both candidates, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, and their selected vice presidential candidates, are building out their policy platforms and providing additional details about their priorities for the next administration.

Many are tuning into the respective party conventions to learn more about these policy platforms. Joining in on the national conversation, SIIA has helped host the Innovation Forum at both party conventions, an event in which industry leaders, experts, and policymakers come together to discuss the most pressing issues facing the tech industry and provide interesting perspectives that can help inform policy specifics for the next administration.

For both the Republican and Democratic tickets, there is still a lot to learn about their policy preferences for the expansive tech industry. Former President Trump and his vice presidential pick JD Vance did not spend much of their time at the convention outlining their plans for American tech. However, at the Republican convention Innovation Forum, Republican lawmakers joined industry experts and leaders for a robust discussion that dove into advancing American innovation, AI and the workforce, and views from Congress.

Just as in Milwaukee for the Republican convention, we are looking forward to hearing more in Chicago this week for the Democratic convention. We can glean perspective about the policy priorities for potential future administrations by examining the candidates’ records. Looking at the Harris-Walz ticket, much attention has been paid to the Vice President’s former role as a District Attorney for California, our nation’s largest tech hub, as well as her record as a Senator from that same state. For his part, Governor Walz has taken a commonsense approach to cybersecurity, privacy and AI. As co-chair of the National Governors Association, he advocated to improve the nation’s cyber resilience and he’s also signed legislation that prohibits the nonconsensual dissemination of deepfake intimate images and the use of deepfakes to influence an election. We will be tuning into the Democratic National Convention this week to learn more about these particular policy platforms and additional details the candidates can provide.

The Innovation Forum aims to inform the larger conversation about the tech industry and show how American innovation is helping to drive economic growth, provide America a competitive edge across a multitude of industries, and help foster a better, brighter world. We hope that both presidential contenders take note, and lay out an agenda that helps harness the power of America’s technology industry for the benefit of the American people.