This month negotiators from 11 countries are gathering in Singapore for an important round of negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement. As it happens, Singapore provides the perfect backdrop for understanding the opportunity countries have to expand trade in digital services. Singapore has vaulted into the tier of countries with the best … Read More >>
Tag: global markets
A New Trade Agreement for a New Era of Digital Services
Last week US Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced the Administration’s intention to start talks on an International Services Agreement (ISA) with Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and more than a dozen other trading partners. This is an ambitious undertaking, and it holds the potential to break wide open a services market of … Read More >>
Inflection Points for Washington and the Software Industry
The Obama Administration and Congress have reached an inflection point in the wake of the 2012 election: The country is facing a steep “fiscal cliff” that no one wants to go over, but steering away from it will require policymakers to make difficult budgeting choices that few people will like. The software industry meanwhile has … Read More >>
A Catalogue of Worry for US IT Companies
Every year, the Office of the United States Trade Representative issues a National Trade Estimate. It serves as a comprehensive catalogue of the market barriers American companies face around the world. In a public filing this week, BSA has recommended that a slew of alarming, IT-focused barriers be added to the list.
Manipulating Technology Standards to Impede Competition
The point of having standards is to create a consistent set of rules, or models, for all parties to follow. That point seems to be lost, though, on governments in many emerging markets. When it comes to technology, countries like China and India are trying to create their own patchwork of unique standards — many … Read More >>