Global Entrepreneurship Summit
Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao
Global Entrepreneurship Summit
The Hague, Netherlands
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Thank you, Minister Kaag.
And let me thank Your Majesty, Queen Maxima, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for co-hosting this Summit. It’s so impressive to have 2,000 innovation leaders, investors and entrepreneurs from over 140 countries attend.
The United States and the Netherlands enjoy a long-standing relationship, based on our shared democratic values, strong economic ties, and pro-growth environments.
In the U.S., the Administration supports a robust innovation agenda, through investments in Artificial intelligence, Quantum information science, 5G wireless connectivity, and Advanced manufacturing. By working closely with stakeholders in the private sector, state and local governments, academia, and emerging entrepreneurs, America continues to develop and implement revolutionary new technologies in virtually every market. As a result, stronger U.S. innovation contributes to job growth, national security, economic prosperity and improved quality of life.
And, let me give a shout out to the many women entrepreneurs at this summit. Globally, between 2016 and 2018, women’s entrepreneurship increased by 10 percent. And in the United States, within the last decade, the number of women-owned firms has grown by 45 percent. You’ll hear more about that tomorrow from a champion of women entrepreneurs, White House Senior Advisor Ivanka Trump.
As U.S. Secretary of Transportation, one of my top priorities is to engage with new technologies, while addressing legitimate public concerns about safety, security and privacy without hampering innovation.
As a guiding principle, the United States is tech neutral – not top-down, command and control. That means the government is not in the business of picking technology winners and losers. Instead, our preference is to enable the safe testing and deployment of a wide variety of new technologies, so communities and individuals can choose what fits their needs best.
Let me note several good examples in the transportation space. The first is Unmanned Aircraft Systems – or drones. Their potential to save lives by doing jobs that would otherwise put people at risk, and to deliver goods and services more efficiently, is especially noteworthy. The United States is working on permitting drones to fly at night and over people under certain conditions, identifying the safety and security threats posed by drones and how to mitigate those threats to reap the most benefits.
Another example is autonomous vehicles, which hold great promise for increasing safety, and more mobility for the elderly and people with disabilities. The Department’s approach to safely integrating automated and connected vehicles stresses transparency, and collaboration with all stakeholders, including the public as well as state and local governments.
Another exciting market for innovation, technology and entrepreneurs is the rapidly growing U.S. commercial space industry, which leads the world in commercial space launches. At the President’s direction, we are streamlining space licensing and launch permitting procedures, enabling novel operations, and helping to further reduce costs.
The Global Entrepreneurship Summit provides a unique opportunity to bring together innovators, entrepreneurs, policy makers and investors to discuss new technologies that will grow our economies, create jobs and improve quality of life. This is a great example of how the United States, the Netherlands – and innovators worldwide – can work together to continue to support the global spirit of entrepreneurship for the benefit of the world.
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