The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a wing of the U.S. Department of Commerce, wants to help American entrepreneurs use blockchain technologies.
The agency announced a notice of inquiry on Tuesday, asking respondents to recommend ideas for new policies surrounding a host of areas, including emerging technologies, cybersecurity and privacy, internet governance and information free-flow. NTIA administrator David Redl wrote that "all interested stakeholders" to provide input, which will then "inform NTIA's international internet policy priorities going forward."
According to the notice, the priorities will help the agency "encourage growth and innovation for the internet and internet-enabled economy." In his post, Redl specified:
"We want risk-taking American entrepreneurs to have access to global markets for their digital products and services. We expect that in the coming years, our focus will increasingly be on artificial intelligence, automated workforces, blockchain technologies and more. We want to know how we should participate in international discussions of these issues."
According to its website, the NTIA is the agency "principally responsible for advising the President on telecommunications and information policy issues." The organization also noted that part of its mission is to ensure "that the internet remains an engine for continued innovation and economic growth."
While the agency has not made any firm policies in the blockchain space yet, its parent department, the Department of Commerce, has discussed using the nascent technology to record digital copyright information, as previously reported by CoinDesk.
More recently, Redl told internet policymakers at the 2018 State of the Net conference that his agency will help the U.S. lead on emerging technologies, citing blockchain as one area in particular where he hopes industry members will help the government "make the right choices."
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