(External) Interoperability is key to tech competition

This week I published a piece in The American Conservative, “Interoperability is Key to Tech Competition.” You can read the whole article there, but here’s a synopsis, via two bullet points:

• The House Judiciary concluded its lengthy investigation into tech competition with a substantial report (449 pages!) calling for substantial intervention, including structural separation and other reforms. Key from my perspective as a long-time advocate for interoperability (see, e.g., this 2017 Medium post and this 2019 white paper), the report includes data portability and interoperability among its recommendations — as does the “Third Way” report released by Rep. Buck (R-Colo.).
• Interoperability mandates have substantial momentum in regulatory conversations in the U.S. and Europe, and we have some work ahead of us to figure out how best to design interoperability interfaces to promote competition. I started articulating some dimensions of this in a paper earlier this year with the Journal of Cyber Policy, “Unpacking interoperability in competition.” But there’s much more to be done.