your screen, the entrance to the las vegas convention center, home of ces international. this is the largest trade show in the world and "the communicators" is on location. this week, we will look at some of the new technologies that are coming out from ces international and talk to policymakers as well. this is "the communicators" on c-span from las vegas. gary shapiro, give us a snapshot of 2015 ces. >> kicks off the year great. the centerpiece super bowl for connoisseurs of innovation. they have all come here. over 160,000 people setting records by every measure for the show. but what is really impressive are the numbers of exhibits but what is being shown here -- the hope for the future. so this show used to be about

television and radio and then tv players and vcrs. expanded into home office and then the internet came along and it was about the internet and connectivity. we've shifted further and gone into solving problems of the world. not to sound too grandiose, but if you look at the show, what we are talking about transportation problems. driverless cars.f food production. hunger. there is a lot of way of sensing crops. so you do not have to be there. health care. my gosh, more solutions for health care. sensors which tell you about yourself and give information to the doctor. use the cloud. then safety. safety in the home, safety of everything. in an easy way, exploring things remotely. so you are taking a lot of problems the last several years can we are going to reduce them

in the future. that is what really charges me up. and we have so many ways to go. the next several ces's should be really interesting. >> 160,000 people attending. how many exhibitors? >> 3600 exhibitor. more than 100 than last year. it's about 150,000 square feet more than last year. it's the size of a show that is on the top 100 shows in the country. so we have added a whole new show. it will be difficult to pass. we are space constrained with the facilities. i'm not looking for a lot more rapid growth. we are trying to figure out ways to accommodate the companies that want to exhibit with us. >> you take over the convention center, which is three they halls. you have taken over the sands in vegas.

and you are in several of the hotels. >> yes. there are three major locations. tech east is where we are. and the westgate and the renaissance hotel next-door. tech west is the sands and the phoenicia. then we started a new area called c-space. that is at the airria hotel. dedicated to entertainment. then we have our friends from the entertainment industry. that has exploded really well. these are sometimes people that we disagree with. the yahoo's and googles are there as well. >> mark fields, president of ford, gave the keynote this year. a car guy gave the keynote. >> ford has been here for nine years. mark fields has been on the stage before with bill gates. 11 years ago. why not? ford is the first company to come into ces and define

themselves as a technology company. and mark fields is keeping that going. he gave a fabulous keynote. he talked about the future of transportation around the world. he gave a vision as a company and it makes sense. >> gary shapiro, how many government officials come to this event and what does cea have a message for those? >> we have every fcc commissioner and a lot of of the commissions and agencies members of congress. we started when congress started. still, we have a lot of congress -- and we also had a large international delegation including two french cabinet ministers. and governors and ambassadors to the united states, because this is a destination for innovation and technology. the message for the people, they

want to learn. i respect that. the message is -- look at the 3600 companies. look what is happening in the future, and be careful of any policy that you do not want to choke innovation. we need regulations. there are safety issues, guidelines. government has an important role. but please regulate with knowledge. do not just regulate from the belly. internationally, they all want to be like the u.s. they want to be innovators. how doe we get our country positioned as an innovator? france more than any other country is positioning themselves. what should we do? they had over 100 french companies exhibiting 150 companies. and a couple thousand people from france are here. we have over 40,000 people from outside the united states coming to this event. >> what were some of the new companies here this year, some of the up and comers that excited you? >> we have a large companies but

from different fields. it is like under armour or lowes. reflecting the intelligent home. and they want to have -- we arable technology. it really is the buzz and the excitement honestly is our start up area. there are 350 companies. you have to be a startup, you have to qualify. but the e-mails i'm getting. people are taught me they spent three hours ther these are senior-levele executives that come here and say. what excitement. a lot of this is about we live in a world where anyone can innovate. if you can open up with the computer it's because of these chips that great companies like intel make. you take those chips and put them together into a program that analyzes the data and all of a sudden you are creating wearable devices. creating new things for the car.

aftermarket products. there are chips you wear. chips in clothing. now there is even, a company -- i was excited when i heard about my wife as sa a doctor, a company for women only. a cervical ring tells you when you are fertile, which the vatican is interested in. you have four hours using temperatures. this gives you 48 hours. they can provide information on your heartbeat, and how far you go. those devices are all over you. i know this is not for you. i can tell by the expression on your face. these are things tha washington will be dealing witht. devices that have information. issues involving privacy, safety all the time. and there's issues involving

even cyber security as you get the information from devices like this. >> two final questions. you had all of the sec commissioners out here. couple of big issues they are confronting in a . net neutrality, mergers and spectrum. does cea have positions on those issues? >> yes. i will start on the last. spectrum is our oxygen. it is the license that people buy. verizon and at&t in google and others comcast. they use it for whatever they want to provide a service for their customers. they end up paying for some way -- advertising or something. and there's an auction. the next auction is the television spectrum. we need that. anyone with an idea can use it and create a product. it's used for wi-fi.

if it was not for wi-fi we cannot do everything we want to do. that is important. the over the air broadcasters are doing her best to slow it down throw a monkeywrench. they have filed a lawsuit. that is too bad. cyber security is a very important issue. especially after the sony thing. we are going to have to deal with it. rely heavily on our government and private solutions and talking to consumers. with every new invention that comes up, there is always some downside. this is one of the downsides of the internet and wireless technology is that other people can do some bad things. but we'll survive. it is a balancing act. in the first one -- net neutrality. look, i think the parties are in agreement on 99% of it. everyone wants an open internet. everyone wants broadband.

everyone wants investment in infrastructure in the country. how you balance that? i think there is a lot of. i on both sides. but we can't get caught up to much and try to do something that is that going to restrict not only investment but competition because competition is the answer. if we as americans have a choice of services and we choose who we want, then the issue of net neutrality goes away because then any company can do what they want. but that's the goal is to have choice. the prices go down which is what consumers want. one of the big announcements is the landscape -- is the dish announcement, the packaging together a bunch of epsnspn and other services together. wow, do it over the internet. not over cable.that is a game changer . we are going to see more announcements like that. five years from now the media

landscape will look different. >> when sdidoes planning for ces 2016 begin? >> i've had more meetings about 2016 then i have about this show. taking this event to shanghai. we are launching in may. we have a lot of american and chinese companies and europeans have signed up. we are excited because we are pretty big here. the asisaan marketplaces going. it took 48 years to get the show to this point. we are going to growing girl. we want to be the dominant show in asia. >> in our tours, we have noticed a lot more chinese companies. is that corredct?ct? >> it is a distant. there are fewer japanese and more chinese. now the chinese are low-cost manufacturers, trying to get brand names. there will be lower cost

manufacturers in china coming along and the cycle will continue. where we are now with intellectual property, the design, the chips, that is where the battle is going to be fought. >> gary shapiro is president and ceo of eacea and runs the ces international show. thank you so much. so, mark fields, why is a car guy giving a keynote address here? >> we view the consumer electronic show is a place to highlight our innovation. we started coming back here in 2007. we were the first oem to come out here. we did originally to launch our sync system, are in car connectivity system. it's a great opportunity for us as a company to highlight our innovations. we are talking about our new sync 3 system. we are talking about our semi-autonomous vehicles we have on the road today. we're talking about our fully

autonomous vehicles that we are developing for the future. and we are also -- innovation for us is important. this is a show that encompasses that. >> at what point in your career with ford, did you start thinking about a car with communications? >> you know, when i joined the industry 25 years ago, at that time, there were articles that a car was going to become a computer on wheels. and it never actually came to that in that time, but now we are seeing the technological enablers allowing us to have this vehicle not only be a great industrial products and a great consumer product, but it's a great technology products. so, when we originally looked at connectivity and at communications, it was about 10 years ago when we -- we look at trends, because we need to

use that to make strategic decisions about where to alligator capital. what we saw about 10 years ago was that -- the growth in mobile phones. and started to grow the smartphone. but started seeing people really wanted stay connected. so that's what dorove us to develop the original sync system. >> we've got apps on cars. cell phones. all the different technologies. at what point does the become too much distraction? >> we spent a lot of time. our customer safety is of utmost importance. so what guides our strategy is we want to make sure we keep our customers eyes on the road that hands on the wheel. for example, our sync system is voice activated. and you can use the touchscreen. we want voice activation because he want customers to not get distracted.

as we look at the apps, those steps of things, we have a very rigorous process as we work with developers to suss out the ones that will fit and the ones we feel will not be appropriate because they will end up taking the customers' attention away from the prime objective which is to drive. >> you have mentioned the sync system. the made a change. who is your new partner at why? >> our new sync 3 system, we developed with a couple partners. qnx as the operating system. using texas instruments as the processor, the chip processor. and-panasonic to develop the graphicuse user interface. >> where's blackberry? >> qnx. they have been an expert in embedded automotive operating systems. our car system uses microsoft.

we will continue to work with microsoft on a number of different things. we decided for this new system to switch. >> in your keynote address, you talked about the need to have a higher purpose when making cars. what did you mean by that? >> when you go back to henry ford. we are fortunate. we had a heritage which is a history with the future. and henry was all about not only putting out great products and earning a healthy return, but he wanted to create a better society. he invented the moving something line which helped economic development in the country. helped spur the next industrial revolution. he lamented the -- he implemented the $5.00 a day wage which created the middle class. that is in our blood today. that is what we mean by innovation with a higher purpose, what just about the

feature or product or service that satisfies customers but also serves a societal need as well. that is why we are talking about mobility and how we are trying to use innovation to solve some of these very important traffic and congestion issues in mega cities. >> how do you do that? how do you solve that issue? >> first our mindset is -- we are not only a car utility and truck company, but we think of ourselves as mobility company. that opens up your mind wonderfully how we think about business. it's a mindset. secondly you go about it by experimenting and learning. what we talked about at our keynote is the 25 global experience that we put in place around the world to learn a couple things. one is across the world how are people thinking about their mobility challenges in their home country? secondly, it allows us to get to

know great partners that we might want to continue to develop products and services with. thirdly, it just advances this whole issue of mobility, which is going to become a bigger and bigger issue on the planet as the middle class grows around the world, as large cities keep growing, as nd as we see the impact on air quality. >> ford announced they are expanding your silicon valley research center. what do have their now? -- have there now? >> we have a small lab there now. we are going to expand significantly for a couple reasons. one, we think it is important because when we look at the talent -- we are developing, we are in a growth business, which is very exciting. also the technology company. we need to make sure we have the right talent to consummate the talent we all would have in the

company for some of these new skills. it's really important to go to where some of that talent is and be involved. because one of the things we have always tried to do by coming to ces and visiting silicon valley very often -- i go three or four times a year for a couple days at a time to learn and establish relationships. but also to be viewed as part of the community and not just some transactional partner that comes in, buys something and swoops out. >> mark fields, are the nuts and bolts of the car selling the car more than the technology, or is technology overtaking? >> it depends on the buyer. a car is an emotional purchase for people. they, it's an extension. they want to look good. it's a car that represents themselves. so you want oto make sure.

our approach and the businesses that we have gorgeous design and every one of our vehicles. because we want the reaction when the customer drives home and pull up to their driveway, their neighbor is pulling out and saying, wow. what's that? the design is important, but the technology is. fuel efficiency, the safety and the quality are things we focus on. >> how does a kid from brooklyn become a car guy? >> i have always loved cars. when i was six, my dad bought me a matchbox set. 20 cars. i love cars and trucks. i love this industry because it is so -- for the country. so important for economic development. and we waent to do our part. to me, it is just this wonderful mixture of a great industrial product, great consumer product, great technology products.

and everybody wants to talk about it. everybody has a point of view. there are many stakeholders involved. i cannot be more honored to work in this industry. >> and finally, this is c-span so we need to talk public policy. when it comes to washington -- what kind of policies can congress set that help company or hurt the company? >> overall when i look at the big picture around the economy we just continue to encourage lawmakers to come together and to put in place policies that spur economic development. we are a wonderful country. we are so resilient. there is so much diversity. and when you have more policies that are from the for economic developing, everybody's boats rises. we want to make sure that, for example, from a tax reform standpoint that there's tax

reform so that we can encourage more investment in the u.s. as we work with regulators, we want to be part of the process part of the conversation. we want to be helpful. that predictability of regulation would be help out our industry and the economy. >> mark fields president and cto of the ford motor company. now joining us on "the communicators" is sec commissioner michael o'reilly. what is it like to come to the ces international show as an sec commissioner? >> thank you. i appreciate your having me here. to answer your question, to come as a commissioner is a great challenge. there's quite a lot of information to gather. it's an opportunity to learn different innovations happening in the marketplace. how it can affect my job at the sec. >> what kind of innovation would

impact your job? regulation etc.? >> a number of different things. new television standards. when i think about headphones, what is it going to do for rf? and satellite products and video products. the impact on summary different items we had before orand then i get to learn a number of different products that may be involved in the future. >> what did you tour? >> a great deal of opportunities. televisions, headphones. i saw wearables. fitbit. all kinds of eureka parts. smart incubators. small companies where you do not know if they will exist next year. they may be here they may not. so a really enjoyable tour. all kidnsnds of different productions today. >> are we in a tech boom?

>> it is fair to say that we are in innovation boom. technology is a broad term. america is a leading creator of products and services and applications in the world and will be for a long while. >> commissioner, a little politics. coming up in february it's been announced that your commission will be holding a vote on net neutrality. where are you right now on that? what are some of the discussions going on? >> in fairness, i do not know exactly what the item may look l ike. i will not see that intel -- until february 5. i do not have any particulars. in the broad discussion, i have concerns about where we might go as a commission and what that may impact all the different demonstrators here today, all those trying to innovate. what will be the impact of our

decisions on their business model? >> did you get lobbying by different people on different sides of the issue? >> not as much. i think people know. there been quite a bit of comments. 4 million individual comments. so i think today was an opportunity to learn more than about public policy. >> you have just been appointed to your full term. congratulations. you are the newest member of the commission. is it political between the five of your? there was a recent article in political about the politics of the sec. >> would ssay, i get along very well with my fellow commissioners. there have been a number of issues that have broken down along party lines. there are opportunities we could've found agreement or a better accommodation. the process did not allow that. we just went through a tough part where a couple of items were delegated to other to the

bureaus to make decisions. that does not give me the opportunity to vote. i'm willing to vote. the decisions were made not to let that happen. that is problematic. i know there are a number of people that are looking at sec including, those of my former employers on capitol hill. i would say generally, most issues are not partisan. that is a good thing. with an opportunity to work together. but there are some issues that have broken down along party lines. different philosophies and approaches. the more difficult part is when process becomes an issue. >> finally we have talked to some of the folks involved in a couple of potential mergers. can give us any kind of a timelineyou, and he thought process on both comcast-time warner and at&t and directv? >> i never comment about mergers. i keep it completely -- at some point, i do not have any information to review. the merger task forces.

there is one task force looking at both. they will present to me. i do not have anything to comment specifically. i decline to comment about mergers until a decision is made. >> commissioner, we look forward to having you back in our studio for a full communicators program. than for a few minutes at the internationalks -- >> i look forward to joining you as well. >> and "the communicators" is on location in las vegas for the annual ces international consumer technology show. the largest trade show in the world. if you're interested in seeing more of our program, you can go to c-span.org/communicators. >> c-span. created by america's cable companies 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. >> here are some of our future

programs for this weekend on the c-span networks. on c-span 2, tonight at 10:00 on book tv's afterwards, bret stephens that are-- argues that our competitors are taking advantage of the situation abroad created by the u.s. as it focuses on is to mexicans are. sunday night at 10:00 steve israel about his novel on a top-secret government surveillance program. on american history tv on c-span3, tonight at 8:00, george mason university professor john turner on the early mormons and their attempt to create a new zion during the 1830's. and sunday afternoon at 4:00 on "reel america." the 1964 academy award-winning film about the forced desegregation of little rock arkansas'central high school.

lettuce and think about the programs you are watching. -- let us know what you think about the programs you are watching. call us at - e-mail us or send us a tweet. join the c-span conversation. like us on facebook. >> housing secretary julian cas tro talks about the challenges facing prospective homeowners and what can be done to address affordability and better access to credit. he answers the questions on the future of fannie mae and freddie mac, immigration and his own political future. this is an hour. >> good afternoon and welcome. before we begin our program, i would like to ask all of you to stand and observe a minute of silence in memory of the terrorist attack on the french

publication were among those killed at the newspaper last wednesday. we honor the memories in the contributions to our profession to freedom of the press. as a market special respect to those who died, we observe a mark of silence every day this week and concluding this friday. thank you. please be seated. welcome.