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The Latest From The Commerce Blog

Commerce Deputy Secretary Andrews’ Visit to Consumer Electronics Show Underscores Importance of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to American Economy

Submitted on January 9, 2015 - 4:40pm
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Commerce Deputy Secretary Andrews’ Visit to Consumer Electronics Show Underscores Importance of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to American Economy

Yesterday, U.S. Deputy Commerce Secretary Bruce Andrews concluded a two-day visit to Las Vegas, where he toured the floor of the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and addressed Las Vegas business leaders at the Chamber of Commerce on the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship to the American economy. 

On Wednesday, Deputy Secretary Andrews addressed local Las Vegas business leaders at a roundtable organized by Business Forward. He discussed the Department of Commerce’s role in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly in pursuing 21st century trade agreement. Deputy Secretary Andrews also spoke about the need for Congress to pass Trade Promotion Authority and the need to strengthen the President’s ability to create economic opportunity for U.S. companies and open up key markets for U.S. goods and services. Such agreements can help spur growth; help American manufacturers, service providers, farmers and ranchers; and increase U.S. exports, as well as allow American businesses to compete in a highly competitive, globalized economy. 
 
Following this address, Andrews traveled to the Las Vegas Convention Center where he toured the CES show floor with representatives from the Consumer Electronics Association. There, he saw firsthand how small and medium businesses are developing innovative technologies that have the potential to improve the way kids are educated, enhance home entertainment, and keep America on the cutting edge of research. He met with a mix of U.S. companies at the show, including five small companies that manufacture in the United States and six larger companies.
 
CES showcases more than 4,000 exhibitors, including manufacturers, developers, and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content, technology delivery systems and more. CES also includes a conference program with more than 300 sessions and draws more than 152,000 attendees from more than 150 countries. The International CES is held in Las Vegas each year, and has served as the proving ground for innovators for more than 40 years.
 
Later that day, Deputy Secretary Andrews attended the Leaders in Technology Reception and Dinner, where he met with the industry’s key representatives and stakeholders.
 
Deputy Secretary Andrews also met with local staff from the International Trade Administration’s U.S. Export Assistance Center and sat in on a presentation by a U.S. manufacturer participating in the Global Markets Insight Program, which helps connect businesses with trade partners and succeed abroad.
 
The Deputy Secretary’s participation in CES highlights the importance the Commerce Department and theAdministration place on innovation and entrepreneurship, including through the Department's "Open for Business Agenda." It also underscores the value the Department places on promoting the ideas and policies that support innovation and entrepreneurship, which help America maintain its competitive edge, spur wage and job growth, and strengthen the U.S. economy.

Promoting Spectrum Sharing In the Wireless Broadband Era

Submitted on January 9, 2015 - 11:21am
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Promoting Spectrum Sharing In the Wireless Broadband Era

Cross blog post by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 

In the summer of 2010 -- just three years after the introduction of the iPhone -- President Obama called on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to collaborate with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to free up critical radio spectrum to fuel the breakneck growth of the wireless broadband market. Today, this directive is more pressing than ever, with the wild popularity of smartphones and tablets driving unprecedented commercial demand for mobile bandwidth.

Identifying the spectrum to keep up is a top priority for NTIA, which manages federal spectrum usage. And promoting spectrum sharing across the public and private sectors is an important key to achieving this goal.

At NTIA, we recognize that spectrum is the lifeblood of the mobile broadband revolution. We are committed to ensuring the industry has the bandwidth it needs to continue to innovate and thrive.

But we face an important balancing act since federal agencies also rely on this precious and finite resource to perform all sorts of mission-critical functions – from communicating with weather satellites (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to navigating passenger planes (Federal Aviation Administration) to operating weapons systems (Defense Department).

Working in consultation with the FCC, which oversees commercial and other non-federal spectrum uses, NTIA has made good progress toward President Obama’s target of freeing up 500 megahertz of spectrum for licensed and unlicensed wireless broadband services by 2020.

Through fiscal year 2014, NTIA had formally recommended or otherwise identified 335 megahertz of spectrum for potential reallocation. That includes spectrum in the 1695-1710 and 1755-1780 bands auctioned off in the FCC’s successful AWS-3 auction.

The auction, which will fund important federal programs and pump billions into the U.S Treasury, showcases the potential for spectrum sharing. While many of the incumbent federal users in the auctioned bands will be relocating to other frequencies, some will instead be sharing their spectrum with new users.

To achieve the President’s goal, we need to move beyond the traditional approach of clearing government-held spectrum of federal users in order to auction it off to the private sector for exclusive use. Too often, relocating incumbent operations is too costly, too time-consuming and too disruptive to federal missions. The future lies in sharing spectrum – across government agencies and commercial services, and across time, geography and other dimensions in the future.

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How trade stats can help US businesses expand abroad

Submitted on January 9, 2015 - 9:40am
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Guest blog post by Dale Kelly, Chief of the International Trade Management Division, U.S. Census Bureau

International markets provide an opportunity for U.S. businesses to increase sales and overall competitiveness, but knowing how to get started and learning about foreign markets can be daunting. The U.S. Census Bureau can help.

Although known most widely as the home of the decennial Census of U.S. households, the Census Bureau also is responsible for collecting, compiling, and publishing monthly trade statistics on all goods imported and exported from the United States. Every month, the Census Bureau releases information on the import and export of commodities such as soybeans, corn, rice, chemicals, steel, aircraft, and lumber. Together with the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which collects similar data on services imports and exports, the Census Bureau releases the  “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services” report. This report provides detailed information on import and export of merchandise by commodity and end-use category as well as by the multitude of countries and areas with which the U.S. conducts international trade. All of these reports are available at the Census Bureau’s foreign trade web page.

How can this information help U.S. businesses? The Census Bureau provides detailed information on more than 9,000 export commodities and 18,000 import commodities. Easily accessible online, this information assists U.S. businesses in making informed decision by tracking the global marketplace for their product and identifying possible opportunities to expand to new markets.

In addition to data, the Census Bureau provides resources and tools to help businesses export. The Census Bureau’s International Trade Management Division conducts outreach and training around the country. Training includes webinars, seminars, workshops, and blog posts on using trade data, understanding foreign trade regulations and utilizing the Automated Export System, which allows the electronic filing of export information directly to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. These same data are the source of the Census Bureau’s merchandise export and import statistics. The next two-day training on the Automated Export System begins on January 21 in Houston, Texas.  Trade is a vital part of our economy, and the Census Bureau plays an important role in providing detailed timely information to U.S. businesses to make informed decisions.