Public policy

Communicating our views to national and regional governments and regulators is an important part of business. We aim to make a thoughtful and productive contribution to a broad array of policies that impact the IT sector worldwide. We believe an economy based on innovation is a key to sustainable growth, and that policymakers ought to provide incentives that promote research and development. Our public policy work complies with all applicable laws and our Standards of Business Conduct.

We consider potential impacts on all stakeholders before taking a public policy position, to ensure it does not conflict with our global citizenship objectives. For example, we are increasing business in developing economies through open trade. Yet there is often little infrastructure in these countries to recycle or safely dispose of end-of-life equipment. We work with governments and industry to develop suitable regulations, policies and standards, and adapt our take-back programs to address these countries' needs.

In November 2009, the HP Board of Directors formed a new Public Policy Committee, which assists the Board in fulfilling its responsibilities for generally overseeing HP's policies and processes relating to HP's public policy, government affairs and global citizenship activities. (See more information.)

Policy initiatives in 2009

Our public policy work focuses on the areas summarized below. More detail on these and other areas is available in our global issue briefs.

Innovation and competitiveness

HP must remain innovative and competitive to provide value to our shareholders, and so our technology continues to improve the way people live and work. Our global public policies all support an “innovation economy,” and include:

• Intellectual property rights Society is best served by patent systems that encourage knowledge-based economies. HP holds 33,000 patents worldwide and invested approximately $2.8 billion in R&D in 2009. We support prompt action by governments to reform patent systems, to improve patent quality and decrease disruptions to innovation caused by speculative litigation.
• Competitiveness Innovation and sustainable growth strengthen the economy, help companies succeed in the global marketplace, benefit people and improve quality of life. HP supports public policies that enable these benefits, such as favorable tax treatment, appropriate regulation and R&D incentives. In 2009, HP lobbied the U.S. government to implement or preserve tax provisions that enable U.S.-based global companies to remain competitive. We support comprehensive international corporate tax reform, including efforts to close loopholes that lead to inequality, such as tax havens. We are also seeking opportunities to access federal government stimulus spending for recharging the economy. HP executives met with the U.S. chief information officer and chief technology officer during the year.
• Education Technologists, policymakers and educators must collaborate to reduce global inequalities in education. We work with educators to create country-led programs that meet current and future needs. For example, we are working with the Japanese government to develop programs that teach young people to use IT effectively and creatively, to secure the future of the IT industry in the country. (See also Social innovation.)
• Market access Sixty-four percent of HP's sales were outside the United States in fiscal year 2009. Open trade is vital to our success and enables us to expand our product and service offerings globally, spurring innovation and economic growth and improving employment opportunities in developed and developing countries alike. We support comprehensive and progressive bilateral and regional trade agreements that include commitments to liberalization and transparency in government procurement, services and standards.

Environment

HP is committed to reducing its own environmental impact, as well as that of its customers, partners and suppliers. We advocate energy-efficient technologies and the concept of individual producer responsibility (IPR) for electronic waste, an approach that makes producers responsible for recycling their own products at the end of their life. HP is also engineering products with reduced energy and materials use through its design for the environment program.

• Climate change Companies, governments and people worldwide must work together to address the challenges climate change poses. Energy efficiency and climate change took priority during 2009, due to the global focus on the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, as well as the development of proposed U.S. climate change legislation. HP advocates the transformation to a low-carbon economy and signed the Copenhagen Communiqué on climate change. We promote the role that IT can play in reducing energy use and support similar activity from others, such as the European Commission’s Energy Efficiency Forum. (See Climate and energy – Collaboration.)
• Energy efficiency Energy security and costs increasingly affect society and the economy. We work to improve energy efficiency in our products and operations not only to comply with worldwide legislation, but also because we recognize this as the cleanest, quickest and cheapest way to lower our energy usage costs and that of our customers. We work extensively with governments to help shape product energy-efficiency legislation. (See also Changing the energy equation and Tech gallery.)
• Electronics recycling Rapid improvements in technology lead to frequent replacement of electronics, creating a growing surplus of unwanted equipment. Manufacturers share with governments and customers the responsibility to treat electronic products responsibly at the end of their useful life. We support individual producer responsibility, which holds producers responsible for recycling their products after collection. As well as our recycling programs in developed countries, we run recycling pilots in emerging markets to develop a blueprint for wider recycling. (See Product reuse and recycling – Programs for more details.)

Healthcare

Cumbersome, outdated record keeping makes healthcare inefficient and costly. Applying the full benefits of IT to healthcare systems, underpinned by regulations to protect consumer and patient privacy, will dramatically improve healthcare administration. While HP seeks opportunities to help improve healthcare systems globally, the U.S. system in particular is in need of a fundamental reform to improve access, quality of care, cost control, and overall performance and effectiveness. In 2009, HP executives met with the U.S. chief technology officer at a session on healthcare and IT, where we were able to explain HP’s capabilities. (See also Changing the healthcare equation.)

Industry coalitions and association memberships

We often communicate our public policy positions through industry associations. These organizations provide a collective industry voice to reach government officials more efficiently. We list the major associations we belong to on our Government Affairs website.

We also participate in standards bodies and industry coalitions. For example, we are collaborating to develop industry standards for energy efficiency and supply chain responsibility that will improve performance globally and support fair competition.

Political engagement

Interested employees can participate in public debate through the HP Government Affairs Network. Members of this voluntary network receive regular updates on policy issues of importance to HP. In the United States, we encourage members to express their views on pending legislation to elected officials.

In 2009, HP contributed $1,052,400 to state and local candidates, political memberships/sponsorships, and ballot measure campaigns in the United States. These contributions were consistent with our policy positions, corporate political guidelines and applicable rules and laws.

U.S. law prohibits corporate contributions to federal political candidates. However, eligible employees can make voluntary donations to the HP Political Action Committee (PAC) (and EDS PAC for legacy EDS eligible employees). The HP and EDS PACs are separate legal entities that contribute to bipartisan campaigns for U.S. congressional candidates who share our policy views. In 2009, the HP and EDS PACs contributed a combined $260,000. HP does not make political contributions outside the United States.

See historical data in our data dashboard.

Learn more on our Government Affairs website:

• Policies for corporate and PAC political contributions
• Criteria and responsibilities for approving political contributions
• List of candidates receiving corporate or PAC contributions in 2009 (excludes HP Enterprise Services)
• List of section 527 organizations¹ receiving contributions from HP in 2009 (excludes HP Enterprise Services)

1. ¹ The term “527 organization” refers to a U.S. political organization that is not regulated by the Federal Election Commission. These organizations are created under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code.