Posted by Brad SmithGeneral Counsel & Senior Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft
Today, I had the opportunity to discuss the need for education and high-skilled immigration reform when I testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security at a hearing on “The Economic Imperative for Immigration Reform.”
The essence of my testimony is that while we undoubtedly have a jobs problem in this country, closer analysis shows it is also a talent and skills problem. In a world where jobs follow talent, we need to increase the skills of the American workforce if we are to succeed economically.
Education is clearly a priority. Today, we face a dual unemployment rate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics last month estimated that the unemployment rate for individuals with a college degree or more is only 4.4 percent. For those individuals with only a high school diploma, the unemployment rate is 10 percent. And the problem may get worse. According to a recent Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce study, between 1973 and 2008, the share of jobs in the U.S. economy that required postsecondary education rose from 28 percent to 59 percent. This share is projected to rise to 63 percent by 2018. The same study shows that by 2018 we are likely to fall short on the number of college graduates our economy needs. We have a skills gap.
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Posted by Brendon LynchChief Privacy Officer, Microsoft
As we engage with people around the world, it is clear that privacy issues are top of mind for consumers, businesses, governments and policymakers. It seems like every day there is a new story highlighting concerns related to the collection, use and protection of personal data. Legislators and regulators are carefully monitoring the landscape, and actively exploring ways to protect consumers’ privacy. Meanwhile, consumers are getting more engaged, and asking important questions about how data is protected.
To advance this discussion, Microsoft is launching a series of privacy conversations at our Innovation & Policy Center in Washington, D.C. Microsoft has a longstanding commitment to privacy, and works hard to earn the trust of customers around the world by, in part, developing and adopting meaningful privacy practices.
Posted by Jeff MeisnerEditor, Microsoft on the Issues Blog
Recognizing it will take all of us…schools, parents, guardians, foundations, governments and corporate partners to meet the challenges facing our kids today…we are honored to be invited this afternoon to meet with President Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Senior White House Advisors, and industry leaders, for a roundtable discussion on education reform. We are hopeful that gatherings such as this will continue to elevate the conversation and remind us all that providing every child a quality educational experience must be a right of this country, not a privilege.
Posted by Paul GarnettDirector, Technology Policy, Microsoft
Summertime often conjures up memories of days spent at the beach – waves crashing, sand castles, beach balls, surfing, swimming and ice cream. For the vast majority of Americans, that time is spent at a public beach – places with names like Crane’s, Ocean Shores, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Presque Isle and yes, even Marconi, named for the telecommunications pioneer.
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Communications and Technology holds a hearing on a legislative proposal that would require all newly allocated radio spectrum to be auctioned. That would include spectrum reallocated in the TV bands, including the white spaces spectrum, soon to be used by innovative new types of unlicensed devices based on dynamic spectrum access techniques.
Posted by Curt KolcunVice President, U.S. Public Sector, Microsoft
Yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stopped by the Imagine Cup Finals at Lincoln Center in New York.
I had the opportunity to walk through the student showcase with him as he met with some of the student teams competing at the event.