Secretary of Commerce Pritzker Highlights Key Departmental Accomplishments During Obama Administration

Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker submitted her exit memorandum to President Barack Obama highlighting the Department of Commerce’s major accomplishments that helped grow the US economy during the past eight years. Sec Pritzker’s “Open for Business” agenda focused the efforts of the Department’s 12 bureaus and 46,000 employees on five pillars – trade and investment; innovation; data; environment; and operational excellence – in order to achieve its single mission of helping to create the conditions for economic growth, job creation, and opportunity across the United States. Two specific areas of achievement denoted in the memorandum were strengthening the digital economy and trade enforcement.

Cybersecurity: In an economy increasingly vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, the Department plays a central role in the federal government’s policymaking focused on securing America’s data networks and systems. In 2014, the Department released the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. Created through unprecedented collaboration between private industry and government, the voluntary Framework consists of standards, guidelines, and practices that promote the protection of critical infrastructure networks. The Framework has become the gold standard for cyber-risk management and has gained widespread acceptance.