Startups call for pro-innovation immigration policy
When his original grading and evaluation platform wasn’t getting any bites in the world of higher education, Ali Aldubaisi and his co-founder, Ali "AJ" Aldjaei, ended up pivoting to the training of law enforcement. Today, Kaiden AI is used in police academies across the country to train recruits on how to de-escalate high-pressure scenarios. We sat down with Ali to discuss his software, selling to government organizations, and founding a startup in northern Virginia.
A federal program to boost broadband — a necessary component of startup founders and users ability to access the startup ecosystem — in states across the country is facing headwinds and delays as policymakers move the goalposts and risk making progress on closing the digital divide.
Timing the sowing and watering of crops is as important as ever in agriculture. Jessi Korinek and her co-founders at Nave Analytics are developing a software that uses satellite data to help farmers cut down on water costs for irrigation. We sat down with Jessi to discuss her product, the impact of tariffs on the agricultural industry, and the challenges she faced in receiving federal research and development (R&D) grants.
As Americans struggle to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, hundreds of startups all across the country are leveraging their tools, resources, and services to aid medical researchers and businesses in need of immediate assistance. Engine spoke with four entrepreneurs who pivoted their business practices to better support those affected by the ongoing pandemic. This is the first post in a series on startups and entrepreneurs who are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Consumer privacy has been on the minds of companies, regulators, and consumers in the wake of high-profile privacy missteps by major Internet companies and sweeping new privacy rules in Europe. While the U.S. approaches consumer privacy law on a sector-by-sector basis, states are using the momentum around the consumer privacy debate to pass their own varying — and sometimes conflicting — laws.
The fate of up to 800,000 individuals and their ability to live and work in the United States will be decided in the coming months, as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday for the consolidated cases challenging the Trump Administration’s termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. While the justices appeared split in their questioning, the outcome of this case will not just have ramifications for the recipients and their communities, but also stands to impact the desirability of the United States as a destination for high-skilled workers to put their skills and entrepreneurial initiative to the test.
Congress is currently at work on a federal privacy bill that will hopefully strengthen consumer privacy while correcting some of the problems with state privacy laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act. While this is a good sign for the startup community, some policymakers are pushing for a provision in the draft federal privacy bill that could open the floodgates to expensive, bad-faith lawsuits against startups.
Earlier this week, Engine representatives participated in the U.S. Copyright Office’s Roundtable discussion on the impact and effectiveness of section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA—and the safe harbor provisions of the bill included in section 512— provide a framework to grant online service providers limited liability protections for copyright infringement stemming from user-generated content.
As 2018 comes to a close, one key policy area that is sure to take center-stage in 2019 is the passage of the updated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), renamed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). While the USMCA is a big win for startups in several areas, Congress should continue to push the Administration in two areas to ensure that entrepreneurs will flourish under the new agreement. Overall, the USMCA sets a high standard for future free trade agreements and will positively impact the growth of American startups.
Current legal frameworks have allowed us to build creative online communities that have enabled musicians, writers, artists, developers, designers, and filmmakers throughout Europe to access a global online market. We are concerned that proposed changes to the European Copyright Directive, specifically Article 13, will threaten the existence of these vibrant online communities.
In partnership with Reps. Suzan K. DelBene, Susan Brooks, Yvette Clarke, Randy Hultgren, Jerry McNerney and Mimi Walters, Engine, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Economic Innovation Group, and the Center for American Entrepreneurship, we are excited to celebrate Startup Week Across America from August 20th through August 24th. We invite Representatives to meet with startups back home in their district to raise awareness for entrepreneurial activity and job creation. It is also an opportunity to discuss the importance of ingenuity and innovation to the American economy.
Fast-growing startup companies are not unique to places like Silicon Valley, Seattle or Boulder. Startups are rapidly developing right in your backyard. Across the nation, industries ranging from retail and health care to entertainment and education are being disrupted and reshaped by entrepreneurs in every community. They are reimagining the future by using technology to solve problems and to create innovative products and services.
In every district, there are dozens of entrepreneurs who have established job-creating startups. These dynamic companies act as entrepreneurial leaders, innovators, and job creators within our communities.
According to the Kauffman Foundation, startups are the driving force behind 2 million new jobs created annually in the United States. Such statistics are notable when you consider that a majority of our nation’s startup companies are younger than three years of age, and nearly 550,000 new entrepreneurs enter the American workforce each month.
Interested in learning more? Contact Engine's Jennifer Fox at jen@engine.is
We're putting together some exciting panels on startup advocacy and policy issues for SXSW 2019, and we need your votes to get them included in the conference. Please vote by August 30th 2018!
Engine's panels:
Disrupting Policy in the District and Beyond. Vote.
Can a Computer Invent? Vote.
Other panels we're excited about:
How to Survive a Trade War. Vote.
A Day Without GPS: What Would You Do? Vote.
Politics in Tech: When the Bubble Bursts. Vote.
Old Men Yell at (the) Cloud: Congress and Tech. Vote.
Creative Ways to Solve the Bias Problem in AI. Vote.
How EU Startups Can Become Successful in the US. Vote.
Startups vs Local Government Regulations. Vote.
Build a Sustainable & Inclusive Startup Community. Vote.
All Ears: Engaging Users Through Smart Speakers. Vote.
Augmented Reality/Mixed Reality Will Change Everything. Vote.
Digital Security in the 21st Century. Vote.
A year after the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Food Group Brands LLC, however, Marshall may be returning to the normalcy of tumbleweeds and prairie, as NPEs who once filed there flock instead to other jurisdictions.
I’m Jen Fox, Engine’s Manager of External Affairs. I am excited to work with America’s startups across the country, and I want to get to know what issues matter most to you and your startup. Can you fill out this survey?
Internet service providers would like you to think there’s broad agreement on net neutrality because everyone agrees cable companies shouldn’t block or slow access to websites and online services. But mention the words “paid prioritization” and you’ll get a much different reaction. The issue is sure to divide the House Energy and Commerce Committee during its hearing on the topic next week.
Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used.
