Silicon Valley’s second-term wish list

[Commentary] Silicon Valley contributed more to President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign than Wall Street and Hollywood, according to a Nov. 3 San Francisco Chronicle report. The Valley contributed $14.7 million compared to $14.5 million from New York City and $6.3 million from the Beverly Hills crowd. During his many trips to Silicon Valley, the President made a number of promises. Now that he has won, the Valley expects him to keep his end of the bargain.

Here’s the wish list:

• Immigration reform: First and foremost, the technology world finds itself starved for talent. The Valley needs more H-1B visas to help grow its tech companies. And there is the need for a Startup Visa to allow foreign entrepreneurs to start new companies in the United States.
• Education: The Valley recognizes the importance of K-12 education, but it also wants to reform and improve the education system, reign in the escalating cost of higher education, and experiment with new models.
• Freedom and competition: The Valley wants an open Internet, and it wants competition in broadband so Americans can get better and cheaper connectivity.
• Invest in sustainable renewable energy solutions.
• Abolish software patents: The larger technology companies have invested fortunes in their patent portfolios. But senior executives have said to me privately that they would rather disarm than waste the time and money they presently do on patent wars.
• Fund basic research and improve research commercialization.
• Rewards for investments in innovative startups.

All told, the Valley’s academics and entrepreneurs want what the rest of the nation wants: thoughtful economic policy. Stanford Law’s Grundfest asks for “a sensible balance between revenue enhancement and entitlement reduction that puts the nation on responsible glide path to a manageable level of federal and state debt.” Heidi Roizen, a venture capitalist, says “it really is all about the economy. Our entrepreneurial engine can only fuel recovery if it is built on a firm base of rational fiscal policy.”