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ITIF Provides Insight Into Stimulus' Potential Impact on High-Tech Employment
The House Appropriations Committee version of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act released this morning includes support for improvement to the U.S. digital infrastructure. The proposal calls for significant spending to boost the economy through science and technology. That figure, along with additional spending on energy, small business, and healthcare improvements, includes significant investment in the country's information technology and networking assets.
The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act includes $6 billion in spending to upgrade the country's broadband and wireless services, $20 billion for health information technology and $32 billion to improve the nation's power grid. Though the figures may not make it into the final draft, they do indicate that legislators recognize the importance of digital infrastructure spending.
A recent report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation suggests that these investments could have a major impact on job creation. In The Digital Road to Recovery: A Stimulus Plan to Create Jobs, Boost Productivity and Revitalize America, the group estimates that a $30 billion stimulus in a single year for broadband networks, digital health technologies, and a smart power grid could create nearly one million new jobs. With the federal government actively considering investments in these areas, the ITIF guide provides an early-look at the kind of impact the stimulus may have on the U.S. high-tech economy and workforce.
ITIF proposes three categories of investment to create short-term jobs, develop supporting industries and improve American productivity.
The first such recommendation calls for a $10 billion investment in U.S. broadband connectivity. ITIF contends that the federal government should invest in providing access to high-speed internet in underserved regions, increasing speeds in served areas and spurring increased adoption of broadband in U.S. households. Part of this investment could take the form of tax credits and grants for the build-out of wired or wireless networks in underserved regions. ITIF also recommends new incremental tax credits for networks that support faster speeds. Adoption rates could be increased by making household computer and broadband purchases eligible for the Federal Communication Commission's Lifeline and Linkup programs. The group estimates that a $10 billion broadband stimulus package of this type could create almost half-a-million new jobs.
ITIF also recommends a $10 billion investment in a health information technology stimulus package that would help build a national interoperable health IT network to improve the quality of U.S. healthcare and reduce costs. The report estimates that such an investment could create more than 212,000 new jobs. This investment would provide financial support for the development of an electronic health record (EHR) network for all inpatient and ambulatory care providers. Also, a tax credit would be available to help support the transition to EHRs. Other grants and loans would be available to support transition efforts at nonprofit and public health facilities.
A third stimulus investment would support modernizing the nation's power grid to increase reliability and improve the adoption of new production and distribution solutions. ITIF posits job creation estimates for both a $50 billion and $100 billion stimulus over the next five years. The $50 billion option would create nearly 240,000 jobs within that period. Specific investments include residential smart meters, regional demonstration projects, and reimbursements for utilities.
The full ITIF report breaks down the job creation estimates for each of these proposals by total number and number of jobs within small businesses.
Access The Digital Road to Recovery: A Stimulus Plan to Create Jobs, Boost Productivity and Revitalize America at: http://www.itif.org/files/roadtorecovery.pdf.
More info on the House Appropriations Committee version of the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act is available at: http://appropriations.house.gov/.