That is the message being delivered by a group of 10 chief executives of some of the world’s leading software companies, who are in Washington for a round of meetings with top officials in the Obama Administration and Congress.

“At a time of economic uncertainty, it’s a reliable fact that software drives productivity, innovation, and resilience in every business and every economic sector,” BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman said.

“Information technology is also at the heart of dealing with critical national priorities such as health care, energy, and manufacturing, and e-government. Policy decisions in each of these areas have the potential to create major opportunities – or challenges – for the US-led software industry,” he added.

“BSA-sponsored research shows the United States still provides the best environment in the world for innovation and IT competitiveness, but other nations are competing vigorously to close the gap,” Holleyman continued.

“For all these reasons, the Administration and Congress must continue to push forward on a comprehensive, pro-innovation policy agenda,” he stated.

During the BSA CEO Forum, the executives will meet with top policy makers including Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Dr. John Holdren, in addition others.

Among the issues the CEOs will discuss with policy makers are cyber security; Intellectual Property (IP) and patent reform; global trade; corporate tax policy; e-government and IT procurement policy; education and workforce skills; and high-tech research and development.

The BSA CEO Forum is also the occasion for the US rollout of BSA’s new “Solutions” campaign, an effort to highlight how software and information technology are woven into the fabric of daily life and contribute solutions to America’s most critical national challenges.

Software is a major contributor to the US economy and is relied upon by virtually every business and economic sector. The worldwide PC software market was $88 billion in 2008, representing 30% of the total packaged software market, which was $297 billion.

Approximately 60 percent of global spending on PC software flows to US-based companies. The United States is by far the greatest user of IT in the world, a competitive advantage that contributes to high US productivity.

“President Obama and Congressional leaders have shown a solid understanding that IT offers an enormous array of solutions to the challenges facing our nation and world,” Holleyman pointed out.

“But experience shows that we must not be complacent in promoting America’s leading industries. We are here to work with all parties to ensure that the technology sector can maximize its contributions to economic growth and social progress,” he concluded.

The Business Software Alliance is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace. Its members represent one of the fastest growing industries in the world.