Markle Foundation - Initiatives

Initiatives

• National Security
• Health
• Policy for a Networked Society
• Economic Security
• Initiative for America’s Economic Future in a Networked World

National Security: Markle’s work in national security has focused on mobilizing information and information technology to advance national security while protecting civil liberties. The Markle Task Force on National Security in the Information Age was formed by the collaboration of a bipartisan group of national security experts from the past six presidential administrations, senior information technology executives, and privacy and civil liberties advocates. Markle's president, Zoë Baird and former Netscape CEO, Jim Barksdale served as Task Force co-chairs. Philip Zelikow became the executive director of the Task Force in 2002 and contributed to its first report, Protecting America's Freedom in the Information Age. In its reports, the Markle Task Force on National Security has recommended ways to improve decisions affecting national security by changing information sharing objectives and processes. Task Force reports are available at: http://www.markle.org/national-security/publications-briefs-national-security. The recommendations of the Task Force informed the and were enacted through executive order and legislation, including the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and the Protect America Act of 2007.

Health: Markle’s work in health focuses on advancing health information technology to improve people’s lives. In 2006, Markle released the Markle Connecting for Health Common Framework for Private and Secure Health Information Exchange, a framework to support the private, secure sharing of health information among medical professional and consumers. The Markle Common Framework was developed through a consensus-driven process by Markle Connecting for Health, a public-private collaborative of more than 100 organizations. The Markle Common Framework has been supplemented by policy briefs, papers, educational sessions, public events, public comments, and testimony, and its resources are applied in policy and implementation efforts across the country and helped shape landmark health care provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Markle Common Framework and its supporting resources are available at: http://www.markle.org/health/markle-common-framework/connecting-professionals.

The Blue Button was conceived by the Markle Foundation Work Group on Consumer Engagement at a January 2010 meeting. The Blue Button is a way for individuals to get easy, secure online access to health information, enabling individuals to download their health data to improve their health and engagement in health care. The Blue Button is now in widespread use by health plans, hospitals, doctors, and individuals across the United States.

Policy for a Networked Society: As the Internet became part of the mainstream in the U.S., Markle initiated collaborations to expand access to the Internet in developing countries and worked to ensure public representation in global Internet governance processes. Markle initiated the G-8 DOT Force project that the heads of state launched at the Okinawa Summit in 2000; Markle president Zoë Baird spoke at the meeting of the heads of state to encourage participation by non-profit organizations, along with government and business leaders. President Bill Clinton appointed Markle president, Zoë Baird, as the non-government organization representative to represent the White House on the Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force). President Bill Clinton also appointed Carly Fiorina, CEO of HP from business, and Tom Kalil of the National Economic Council. The DOT Force created a roadmap for developing countries adoption of information technology, investments of development assistance, and resources to help avoid a global digital divide and to get information technology into the hands of citizens of developing countries.

Markle also initiated and was also part of the Global Digital Opportunity Initiative, a worldwide public-private partnership between Markle, the United Nations Development Programme (with offices in 132 countries), Accenture, and a broad set of private and public sector experts and organizations (including from the U.S., Canada, Egypt, India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom) working together to support the work of the DOT Force.

Markle’s work in Internet Governance and policy began in the early 2000’s. Through various projects, Markle worked to build good governance practices that involved multi-sectoral representation and participation. Among other activities, Markle focused on increasing non-profit and developing country participation in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Internet's first official governance body, and making that body more accountable to all users of the Internet.

Leading up to the 2000 presidential election, Markle designed the online project, Web White & Blue. Web White & Blue was the first of its kind, non-partisan, online resource for news, debates, and other political resources that demonstrated the Internet’s critical role in enhancing individual’s relationship to the political process. The project was recognized as nominee for the 1999 Webby Awards.

Initiative for America’s Economic Future in a Networked World: Markle is developing a new Initiative to find opportunities for renewal of the American Dream in a networked world by leveraging technology and advancing public and private leadership and individual action.