This week, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker traveled to Half Moon Bay, CA to participate in an armchair discussion for Techonomy 2015. During her armchair, Secretary Pritzker shared two announcements from the Department of Commerce including the unveiling of the Department’s Digital Economy Agenda and the launch of the Commerce Data Service.

Virtually every modern company relies on the Internet to grow and thrive. The Commerce Department’s Digital Economy Agenda will help businesses and consumers realize the potential of the digital economy to advance growth and opportunity, at home and around the world. This agenda is comprised of four key opportunities: promoting a free and open internet worldwide; promoting trust online; ensuring access for workers, families, and companies; and promoting innovation.

Consisting of software engineers, data scientists, computer programmers, and web developers, the mission of the Commerce Data Service is to develop cutting-edge software products and web services to improve access to and use of departmental data resources from all 12 bureaus. Activities will include developing user interfaces to make navigating online resources and databases easier, creating tools to enhance data sharing and dissemination, and maximizing the value of Commerce data through collaborations across federal agencies and with public and private sector partners.

Secretary Pritzker then traveled to Silicon Valley to meet with some of the country’s leading researchers and innovators to experience first-hand the development of autonomous vehicle technology.  

In Mountain View, CA, Secretary Pritzker had the opportunity to test drive one of Google’s famous driverless cars. Google’s self-driving car is considered to be the closest example of an actual autonomous vehicle to date. Following her ride, Secretary Pritzker met with the Google team to learn more about the Self-Driving Car Project. Since the projects inception in 2009, Google’s driverless cars have driven more than 1.2 million miles, and prototypes are being tested on public streets and highways in California and Texas. Google’s goal is to develop fully autonomous vehicles, not just cars with semi-autonomous features. The company’s use of artificial intelligence, robotics, mapping data and LiDAR technology allows Google’s driverless cars to “see” the environment around them.

Secretary Pritzker also participated in an autonomous vehicle innovation roundtable discussion at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s West Coast Regional Office in Silicon Valley. As with many new technologies, self-driving cars present challenges in the policy and regulatory space. The roundtable gave auto-industry leaders the opportunity to express the challenges companies are facing in implementing autonomous vehicle technology. Secretary Pritzker highlighted the need for continued public-private sector interaction to support engagement that is critical to the advancement of autonomous vehicle technology and to maintaining the U.S.’s position as a leader in the global transportation sector.

In Sacramento, Secretary Pritzker and Congressman Ami Bera, M.D. toured a veteran-owned business and hosted a roundtable with twelve local CEOs and business leaders to discuss the economic potential for the region. The tour and roundtable was held at the California Pavement Maintenance Company (CPM) and its sister company Rayner Equipment Systems, a veteran and family-owned business in Sacramento. Established by former Airmen Gordon Rayner and his brother Rich Rayner in 1979, CPM is an asphalt paving and maintenance contractor which operates and exports around the world.