Senator Marco Rubio and Ann Adair
Ann Adair from Tampa-based company Thinkamingo Inc traveled to Washington on Sunday to tell Capitol Hill lawmakers about the positive impact the technology industry is having in our community. Adair was in the nation’s capitol May 19-21 with 50 other small business tech executives to participate in the Association for Competitive Technology’s Congressional Fly-In.
Ann Adair is the President and Co-founder of Thinkamingo Inc that makes educational and family-friendly apps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android, NOOK, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. Their literacy-focused apps Lists for Writers and Story Dice have been featured in the media including National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, BoingBoing.net, and Cult of Mac. Thinkamingo was a featured company in a recent edition of the digital magazine The Educationist.
“I went to Washington to make sure that lawmakers and regulators heard the voices of small business tech companies,” said Ann Adair. “The pace of innovation right now is remarkable, but overreaching laws or regulation could bring industry growth to a screeching halt. I explained to my elected representatives the success our company is having in our hometown and what we need that will allow us to continue to grow and create more jobs. Specifically, Washington should:
- Allow internet companies to implement new solutions for data transparency; Congress should resist the urge to apply broad regulatory restrictions that would deny consumers many of the products and services they rely on every day;
- Implement a program for our schools to provide students the computer science education that will help them qualify for rewarding careers in the tech industry. This would build a larger workforce of American software developers and address the shortage we face;
- Allow small software companies to protect their intellectual property without having to fight patent trolls and speculative lawsuits;
- Ensure that the government does not impede efforts to strengthen and expand our internet infrastructure so consumers can benefit from more reliable mobile and fixed data connectivity.
“These are issues that the federal government is facing. I met with my elected officials and others in Washington to educate them about the technology industry so they can make the right decisions about our future. Hopefully, an informed Congress will help companies like mine continue to flourish in our community.”
“Specifically, I met with the offices of Senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson. Senior Advisors from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the Federal Trade Commission’s COPPA (Child Online Privacy and Protection Act) team. Through a series of productive meetings, I shared my experiences and concerns as a parent and tech executive. We want to continue making innovative products for kids and we want our kids to be safe. These are not mutually exclusive, so how do we make this work in the most effective and parent-friendly way?”
Thinkamingo Inc is a member of Moms With Apps, a family-friendly developer community of 1500+ members.
Links for additional information:
Right before the ACT Fly-In, we were able to attend BlackBerry Live 2013 in Orlando. Each attendee received a BlackBerry Z10 as part of the registration, compliments of Brightstar. Everyone spent some time setting up their devices and downloading the conference app to manage their schedules. This was a lot of fun, and it encouraged those of us who were unfamiliar with BlackBerry to jump right in and use it. Visiting the exhibitors and the Jam Space (developer hangout) got us inspired to hurry up and get our apps on the BlackBerry 10.
