Sec Penny Pritzker

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker delivered a keynote address to USTelecom’s eighth National Cybersecurity Policy Reform on a report issued Dec 2 by the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. Sec Pritzker’s remarks highlighted key elements of the Commission’s recommendations, which provide industry leaders, federal lawmakers, and the incoming Administration with a blueprint for securing our economy in the digital age.

President Barack Obama charged the US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with providing staff and logistical support to the 12-member Commission, comprised of public and private sector experts appointed by the Administration and bipartisan leaders in Congress. A core component of the Obama Administration’s Cybersecurity National Action Plan, the Commission’s recommendations contain short and long-term strategies to strengthen our cybersecurity posture across industry and throughout every level of government.

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker delivered remarks at the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) Collaborative Program on the Digital Economy. As part of the “Reimagined JCCT,” this event brought the US and Chinese business communities together with government officials from both countries for a discussion on a topic that is ripe for collaboration.

Secretary Pritzker’s remarks focused on the need for the public and private sectors to work together to protect and promote the Internet as a platform for innovation, commerce, and economic opportunity. She focused specifically on engagement with the business community that is already taking place in two specific areas: the Internet of Things and technology standards. In closing, she asked participants in the discussion to be ambitious and far-reaching in their ideas for how the US and China can build a modern economy that is open, innovative, and global.

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker delivered a keynote address to executives, technology industry leaders, and high-ranking government and national security officials at the US Chamber of Commerce’s fifth-annual Cybersecurity Summit in Washington, DC. During her remarks, Sec Pritzker argued for fundamentally changing the value proposition for businesses to engage with federal agencies on cyberthreats, pointing to the risk of punitive action as a deterrent for the dynamic, continuous collaboration between industry and government necessary to secure the digital economy. Sec Pritzker called for federal agencies and businesses to fully embrace a common language for cyberrisk management, highlighted the need for new legal structures to support greater public-private sector cooperation, and urged industry and government to work together to design and deploy technical solutions for emerging threats in cyberspace.

Sec Pritzker is floating the idea of giving businesses "reverse Miranda" rights so that they can discuss cyberattacks with officials without risking any punishment. Sec Pritzker said that with regulations and Federal Trade Commission actions there are often civil, legal and regulatory risks that discourage businesses from acknowledging cyberattacks. She said that led to a relationship between regulators and businesses that is “inherently adversarial, not collaborative."

[Commentary] From strengthening cybersecurity, to promoting the free flow of information worldwide, to expanding broadband access, the Obama Administration has consistently championed policies to ensure the Internet remains the greatest platform for free expression, innovation, and economic opportunity ever known. Yet just as the United States, our allies, and global Internet freedom advocates prepare to enact a long-term framework to protect the web from government intrusion, some in Congress are threatening to derail this effort. Their claim that President Obama "is giving away the Internet," is a patently false and misleading distortion.

[Penny Prtizkers is the US Secretary of Commerce]

Last week’s G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China showed that US leadership has driven a growing global consensus on a number of issues central to the growth of the digital economy and the high paying jobs of the future. Due in no small part to U.S. leadership, this year the G-20 endorsed policies long advocated by the United States that will help drive innovation and entrepreneurship and make the digital economy an engine for global opportunity.

1. Free Flow of Data.
2. Multistakeholder Internet Governance.
3. Net Neutrality.
4. Broadband Opportunity.
5. Intellectual Property.
6. Strengthening Cybersecurity.
7. Transparency and Good Governance.

[Penny Prtizkers is the US Secretary of Commerce. Jeffrey Zients is the Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy]

As President Barack Obama declared in his State of the Union address, “When women succeed, America succeeds.” Here at the Department of Commerce, we are committed to strengthening the role of women in business and technology.

Among the Department’s many initiatives aimed toward advancing this goal are the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) efforts to empower our country’s women to innovate and create good jobs. The USPTO provides the training and tools to encourage more women to get involved in, and contribute to, our innovation and knowledge-based economy. In fiscal year 2013 alone, USPTO worked with over 3,000 girls through targeted programming focused on intellectual property (IP) and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) opportunities, including workshops on 3D printing, invention concepts, engineering design, game development, product packaging, and patent and trademark protection.

[March 10]