SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) California has the fifth largest economy in the world and leads the country in innovation and diversity.
(b) California is committed to developing a plan to become the most competitive, durable, equitable, and sustainable economy in the world, where technology innovation shall strengthen, not erode, the middle class.
(c) Technology, when put to work for the benefit of human society, has fueled progress throughout history, unlocking the growth of high-quality goods and services coupled with overall price reductions, dramatic reductions in poverty, disease, and famine, as well as leaps in science and the arts.
(d) Recent innovations in technology, including automation and artificial intelligence, are driven in substantial part by data collected from and about Californians, but the value of the data and the social impacts of such innovations are underexamined.
(e) Technological innovation and, relatedly, evolving practices in the collection and use of consumer data present both significant opportunities to mitigate, and threats to exacerbate, wealth inequity in California.
(f) The Commission on Tech Equity is necessary to prepare California residents to ensure advancements in technology serve the construction of a durable middle class and sustainable economy.