President's Message
A Message from Zoë Baird Budinger
Advances in information technology have stirred the world’s creative spirit, and dramatically changed our everyday lives. Technology holds out a future filled with possibilities that go far beyond the transformations we have already witnessed in business, government, finance, education, and consumer choice.
Woven into the fabric of the institutions that serve the public, we can transform fragments of information into knowledge, and knowledge into ever more powerful tools that can solve complex problems, meet critical public needs, and empower people in ways that make life better for us all.
Over the years, Markle has worked with hundreds of collaborators from both the public and private sectors in pursuit of these primary goals:
- To strengthen our nation’s security through the creation of a trusted information sharing environment.
- To transform our complex and over-burdened health system and empower people to be active participants in their own care.
- To protect civil liberties and preserve the personal privacy of all Americans.
We are keenly aware that transforming how we live through technology is not enough. Policies and business rules must be in place at the outset, not as an afterthought. Without the protection of civil liberties or the preservation of privacy, we seriously risk undermining the public’s trust and diminish our own ability to implement transformative changes.
In the course of the last decade, Markle’s work has matured and gained widespread acceptance, as evidenced by the enactment of major federal laws and the development of new technologies. Markle and its many collaborators remain committed to finding solutions to this complex set of challenges by uniting leaders, sparking technological innovation, and driving impact in the development of public policy that protects our nation’s citizens.
Zoë Baird Budinger, President
Markle Foundation