i3 - January/February 2019 - 2

From the CEO

Are You CES Ready?
Happy new year and welcome to CES
2019!
Each year, we begin with the healthy
dose of optimism that CES inspires. This
CES includes exhilarating innovation!
Among the 4,000-plus exhibits are offerings making us healthier, safer and more
resilient. John Deere is showing tractors
that will ease food production. Others
are creating and cleaning water. We see
drones and self-driving cars that will
save lives, ease road congestion and limit
the use of fossil fuels. Artificial intelligence (AI) is fueling solutions to major
intractable problems. And 5G will enable
better lives for all of us.
CES is a mecca for all of us focused on
innovation!
Innovation is the cause that our association champions. I love my job, but I
also fear that if we fail, well-intentioned
governments will wrongly cut off a fruitful area of innovation and deny humans
life-changing benefits.
Innovation certainly faces stronger
headwinds than it did just a few
years ago.

Innovation is the
cause our association
champions.

Trade and Immigration
Restrictions are Hurting
Innovation

Entrepreneurs and innovators, and
their products and services are increasingly facing nationalist border restrictions as ministers and presidents rise
and rule on the politics of fear rather
than the promise of progress.

Techlash is Real

Successful tech companies are scapegoated and taxed by other governments, resentful competitors and
opportunistic competing media.

Severe Privacy Regimes are
Choking Innovation

Europe puts privacy higher than innovation, safety and factual history and
will suffer as the AI benefits to health
care, safety and many other areas rely
on vast amounts of data. By
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

comparison, China eschews privacy in
favor of innovation. The U.S. is in the
middle but is being pushed toward the
absolutist European approach.
60 Minutes recently aired a onesided segment lauding the new
harsh European privacy rules. It

ignored the thousands of companies
which shut down in Europe, as well as the
free services and benefits technology
offers to people in developing countries.
Privacy is a legitimate concern, but is
the fact that the car in front of you
crashed in a multi-car collision private
data worth protecting? Shouldn't the
health data of those affected by the collision be available to first responders?
What about the outcomes of various
treatments when lives are at stake?
We certainly need and welcome
national guardrails - rules defining
responsibility and liability. But we must
not be foolish and trade off our lives,
health, progress and competitiveness for
the singular cause of privacy. Extreme
privacy chokes innovation!
At CES we are releasing the 2019
International Innovation Scorecard - our
global ranking of 61 countries plus the
European Union, based on their innovation friendliness. Friendliness to new
business models, broadband, diversity
and education, among others, are factors
which determine national rankings.
We are also releasing CTA's new book,
Ninja Future: Secrets to Success in the
New World of Innovation. The book
describes upcoming technologies and
how businesses, governments and individuals can do well in this new era. I
identify successful countries and regions
and share many life lessons for success.
I hope you share my passion for
innovation and CES inspires you. I
also urge you to join our cause, work
to improve the rankings of your country and consider the thoughts and
ideas in the book.
Wishing you a healthy and innovative 2019!

Gary Shapiro,
President and CEO
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

http://www.CES.tech http://www.CES.tech http://www.ces-tech.com/ http://www.cta.tech.com

i3 - January/February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - January/February 2019