Our passion for technology can improve services and life experiences for everyone.

Many of us working in the electronics business, wherever we are in the value chain – from design to manufacturing, as well as marketing, sales and support – are more than simple creators of technology. We are also fans, adopters and evangelists. As a species, we have always pursued technologies with the goal of making our lives better.

It's in the interest of humanity that more people can use the technologies we create. Many powerful technologies that define the world we live in today began life as the invention and plaything of a small number of expert users: search engines, digital image sensing, blockchain, AI, even the internet itself, started this way but have become widely used to the advantage of all. This technological democratization is not a new phenomenon. The invention of the printing press is often cited as an early example. In addition to expanding and accelerating the spread of information, its arrival also enhanced the accuracy of the data shared by reducing human error.

For as long as there is invention, action will be needed to mitigate the divide that separates the technological haves and have-nots. The World Economic Forum points out that digital technologies are a driver for fairness and justice, and that equalizing access is essential to safeguard security and human rights. We can celebrate the fact that information services, banking, e-government, and e-health are already widely available and affordable, even in regions that have minimal fixed infrastructures.

Read more: Expanding Tech Access

What history can tell us about our position in high-tech.

New Chinese restrictions on the technology, including processors, permitted in equipment procured by government agencies are the latest move in the global battle for influence in the semiconductor industry; itself a part of a larger struggle for economic power.

US-based companies have more than 46% share of the $574 billion global semiconductor market (in 2022, according to a report by Citigroup), although China is the largest end-market, representing some 31% of sales. Semiconductor exports earn more for the US economy than any other products except oil, gas and aircraft. So of course, it's important.

We have all become heavily reliant on advanced semiconductors in every aspect of life and work, driving the machines we use to get things done: the IoT applications managing our homes, businesses and infrastructures; the AI powering interactions from photography and customer service to medical decision-making; even our mobility, which is increasingly electrified, automated and connected.

Read more: Learning from the Past