Emerging Technology - Independence Institute

CONTACT

VANESSA RUTLEDGE
Senior Fellow, Emerging Technologies
Email: Vanessa@i2i.org
Phone: 303-279-6536 x122

ISSUES

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY POLICY CENTER

Technological innovation makes life better. Advances in computing, communications, artificial intelligence, and countless other fields have increased prosperity, expanded opportunity, and improved quality of life for billions of people. The Emerging Technology Policy Center believes that when innovators are free to build, experiment, and solve problems, society flourishes. By encouraging innovation, embracing responsible technological advancement, and empowering individuals with knowledge and choice, we can unlock human potential and ensure that the benefits of emerging technologies are broadly shared for generations to come.

OUR VISION AND PRINCIPLES

OUR VISION
Technology has always been a driving force behind human progress. From the printing press to the internet, innovation has expanded opportunity, improved quality of life, and empowered individuals to solve problems once thought impossible. At the Emerging Technology Policy Center, we envision a Colorado where technological innovation flourishes, entrepreneurs are free to build, and individuals are empowered to embrace the tools that improve their lives. We believe people—not bureaucracies—are best positioned to decide how technology should be used. The role of government is to protect individual rights, promote transparency, establish clear and predictable rules, and otherwise remain neutral. Policymakers should encourage innovation, limit unnecessary regulation, and avoid picking winners and losers in the marketplace. By fostering a culture of experimentation, creativity, and responsible innovation, Colorado can remain a place where emerging technologies create opportunity, prosperity, and solutions to society’s greatest challenges.

OUR PRINCIPLES

People first
Human flourishing through technology
Innovation over regulation
Freedom to create, build, and experiment
Empower users, not gatekeepers
Competition over favoritism
Transparency and accountability
Markets over mandates
Results over rhetoric
Optimism over fear

OUR POLICY APPROACH

Embraces innovation, entrepreneurship, and the belief that emerging technologies can improve lives, expand opportunity, and solve real-world problems.
Puts individuals and families in control of their technological future by empowering informed choices rather than restricting access through government mandates.
Allows innovation to be guided by consumer demand, market competition, and technological progress—not the preferences of politicians, bureaucrats, or special interests.
Encourages regulatory humility and recognizes that premature regulation often stifles innovation before its benefits are fully understood.
Protects free expression, privacy, and digital property rights in an increasingly connected world.
Supports clear, limited, and technology-neutral rules that provide certainty without burdening innovators.
Favors state-led experimentation and federal restraint, allowing policy solutions to emerge closer to the people they affect.
Rejects taxpayer-funded subsidies, corporate favoritism, and government efforts to pick technological winners and losers.
Promotes competition, interoperability, and open markets that encourage new entrants and challenge entrenched incumbents.
Welcomes transparency and accountability while preserving the freedom to innovate, build, and experiment.
Recognizes that technological progress is not something to fear, but something to shape responsibly through education, empowerment, and individual choice.
Seeks to ensure that Colorado remains a place where innovators, entrepreneurs, and technology companies can launch, grow, and thrive.