i3 - May/June 2016 - 30

Policy

Gary and Rep. Greg Walden (OR-2) with
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1)

CTA TECH WEEK

nnovation helps to create
good jobs, grow the economy
and provide solutions to
some of the world's largest challenges. CTA's Tech Week focuses
on innovation and includes
CES on the Hill, Lobby Day
and the Digital Patriots Dinner
which recognizes congressional
and industry leaders for their
instrumental roles in advancing
technology innovation. Other
#CTATechWeek events included
meetings of the association's
Board of Industry Leaders,
its Foundation Board, Small
Business Council and several
committees.

At CES on the Hill, policy makers
experience firsthand how technology and
pro-innovation policies benefit the U.S.
economy. Held in Washington, D.C., this
annual event is a snapshot of the innovation that happens at CES. Entrepreneurs from the sharing economy, digital
advocacy and accessibility sectors were
on hand to show their innovative products and services and share their unique
startup stories to government officials.
Located in the Rayburn House Office
Building on April 30, more than 500
attendees, including 34 members of Congress
and one senator saw tech advances from
two dozen companies. Federal regulators,
members of Congress and their staff, and the
media had the opportunity to engage with
these technology businesses and experience
the products that are at the center of some
crucial technology policy debates.
Following is a look at a few of the innovative companies that attendees saw at
CES on the Hill.
30

MAY/JUNE 2016

DJI
A market leader in easy-to-fly drones and
aerial photography systems, DJI brought
their drones to Washington to ensure
that legislation promoting the safe and
responsible use of drones is adopted. The
Phantom 4 and Inspire 1 drones were on
display, but not in flight. "These are two of
the most technologically advanced drones
on the market. We're pretty excited about
these as the next platform for innovation,"
said Corey Owens, head of North America
public policy for DJI. With applications
including farming, utility inspection
and search and rescue, these drones will
impact everyday life. "The real question
for policymakers is: 'how do we integrate
these safely into the national airspace'?
Fortunately, we're now in a world where
safety and innovation are not mutually
exclusive. To the contrary, they're mutually
reinforced," Owens explained.

Ford
Ford brought their SYNC 3 demonstration
to Capitol Hill. Ford's in-vehicle communications system lets consumers use their
voice to control smartphone apps from the
driver's seat while keeping their hands on
the wheel. "SYNC 3 offers seamless integration of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, so you can have consistency of user
experience," explained Andrew Woelfling,
director of smart mobility at Ford. "What
we're trying to do is make it easier for
users to connect to their vehicles, get the
information they need, have a better experience, and at the same time respect their
privacy and make sure that when they use
these systems, they opt in."

Doppler Labs
Doppler Labs' Here active listening device
lets users control the sound of the world
around them. The company is focusing on

Rep. Will Hurd (TX-23) with HTC

"hearables," wearable technology for the
ears. The two Here wireless earbuds communicate with a smartphone app, allowing users to personalize their acoustic
surroundings. "With the app on the phone
you can use special filters. If you're on an
airplane, you can cut out engine noise. If
you're in a restaurant, you can cut out the
background noise," said KR Lui, head of
sales and marketing strategy at Doppler
Labs. "You can do crazy things like make
it sound like you're in Carnegie Hall. It's
pretty amazing technology."

Itron
Itron is dedicated to the resourceful use of
energy and water. Itron showcased their
Solar Gateway, bringing flexibility to the
power grid. The Solar Gateway measures
solar generation of the home, collects it,
and using a Qualcomm 4G LTE modem,
sends that information to the cloud. "One
of the key applications is it also can get the
demand information from the residential
meter," explained Peter Sanburn, director
of corporate marketing at Itron. "It's great
for the consumer because they understand
what's happening with their generation
relative to their usage so they can change
their behavior to better take advantage of
solar energy." Using software developed
by Qualcomm, the Solar Gateway correlates demand with capacity. "If there's
extra capacity beyond demand, it'll divert
the solar-generated power to either an on
premise battery system, or potentially an
EV charger," said Sanborn.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

http://www.DJI.com https://www.itron.com http://www.Ford.com https://www.dopplerlabs.com/

i3 - May/June 2016

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