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TechNet CEOs To Visit Washington
by Bara Vaida
At least 35 CEOs from Silicon Valley, Texas, Boston and Orange County, Calif., plan to attend TechNet's Washington policy day Sept. 12.
The executives include: former Netscape Communications Chairman Jim Barksdale; John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner, Perkins Caufield & Byers; Texas Instruments CEO Tom Engibous; 3Com Chairman Eric Benhamou; Sabre Chairman Bill Hannigan. The executives are scheduled to meet with Vice President Richard Cheney, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and FTC Chairman Timothy Muris. They also are scheduled to meet with Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate.
In other TechNet news, on Sept. 23, the group is helping organize a Sept. 23 event to kick off the 2002 re-election campaign of Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. The event is scheduled to be held at the home of former Novell CEO and current Google Chairman Eric Schmidt. TechNet also has scheduled a Sept. 27 fundraiser for Rep. Phil Crane, R-Ill.
Bush's EU Man
President Bush has announced that he intends to nominate Rockwell Schnabel to be the U.S. ambassador to the European Union. Schnabel is presently the co-chairman of Trident Capital in Los Angeles. From 1989 to 1992, Schnabel served at the Commerce Department, first as the undersecretary for travel and tourism and then as the acting secretary and deputy secretary.
Elsewhere on the government front, the FCC named Scott Marcus as a senior adviser for Internet technology, where he will provide the agency with technical expertise as it assesses the Internet's impact on the communications industry. Previously, Marcus was the chief technology officer for Genuity, an Internet backbone and Web-hosting provider. Marcus also is a trustee for the American Registry of Internet Numbers and an active conference organizer for the Communications Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Off To The Races
Chris Kelly, the chief privacy officer at ExciteAtHome, has left the company to get ready to launch his campaign for Palo Alto City Council on Sept. 14. Kelly said he plans to keep his toes in the tech world, including working with a venture capital fund focused on privacy and security companies that is expected to launch within the next month.
In other news, FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani is leaving the FCC on Sept. 7 and may challenge Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. Tristani, a New Mexico Democrat was appointed to the FCC in 1997. She will return to New Mexico. Tristani also has mentioned the possibility of challenging Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.
Staff News In The Nonprofit World
NetDay, an educational technology nonprofit organization, named Elizabeth Griffin as its director of development. Griffin will be responsible for identifying and researching grants, opportunities and prospects interested in supporting the organization and its programs. She has more than eight years of experience in development work.
In other nonprofit news, Mark Nixon, AOL Time Warner's executive director for education, will join the board of SchoolTone Alliance, an independent consortium of companies promoting the benefits of portal computing in the classroom. AOLAtSchool, AOL's free online learning tool for elementary and secondary schools, and bigWebApps are two of the most recent organizations to join the SchoolTone Alliance.
And Bradley Jansen, the deputy director of the Center for Technology Policy, will be providing his expertise to the National Consumer Coalition's Privacy Group. "The NCC is a coalition of free-market privacy experts working on real solutions for people's concerns," Jansen said in a statement. He will be advising the group on financial privacy.
Privacy Heroes Of The Month
The NCC Privacy Group, meanwhile, has named Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas, as one of its two "privacy heroes" for the month of August. The group honored Armey and California state Sen. Steve Peace for their efforts to fight the use of traffic surveillance cameras.
In other award news, Chinatsu Aone, the vice president and director of natural language technologies at SRA International, has received the Women of Color Government and Defense Technologist of the Year award from US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine.
Aone designed and developed a text-summarization system for the Defense Department and has led the effort to use artificial intelligence to extract information from texts. Aone also led the creation of SRA's Assenter, which monitors e-mail in the financial services sector.
Moving On To Eastern Pastures
Ellen Hoover, a government relations manager at Intel in its Silicon Valley office, has left the company after almost four years to move with her husband to Raleigh, N.C. Rich Hall and Grace Davis will replace Hoover in California.
John Emra, who handled press for SBC Communications at Austin-based Public Strategies, also is moving east to work directly for SBC in Connecticut. Michael Meroney will replace Emra on the SBC account. "I'll be overseeing the company's internal and external lobbying efforts on the local and state level," Emra wrote in an e-mail to colleagues.
Watts And The 'Digital Divide'
Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., sees better communication between government leaders officials with companies like Dell Computer, Gateway and Microsoft as one way to help bridge the "digital divide," U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology reported. He said a closer working relationship will help companies share their resources in places most in need of computer skills, such as at historically black colleges and universities.
"In my talks with computer industry people, I found that they were not always aware of where the needs are," Watts said in an interview with the magazine. "We have to say: 'Dell, Gateway, Microsoft, here's the need. Here's how you can assist people who need greater access to technology.'"
Watts last year cosponsored legislation that would have provided a tax break for companies that donate computers to schools.
Navajo Talkers To Talk
Navajo Code Talkers, who are to be featured in a film with Nicholas Cage this fall, are to be the special guests at the Indian Telecom Training Initiative (ITTI) annual conference in Las Vegas at the end of September. The FCC and the National Exchange Carrier Association are cosponsoring the conference.
ITTI's mission is to facilitate the deployment of telecommunication services at reasonable rates to American Indians living in Indian country by providing educational and networking opportunities to tribal governments and tribal telecom industry leaders.
Powering Up
California Gov. Gray Davis has nominated David Freeman to be chairman of the California Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority, which works to ensure that there is adequate power supply and which helps to dampen wholesale energy prices. Previously, Freeman served in senior positions at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the New York Power Authority and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.
Davis' other nominees to the authority include: Sunne McPeak, the president and CEO of the Bay Area Council; John Stevens, Davis' former staff director; and Donald Vial, the chairman of the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy. The state Senate must confirm the nominees.
Spinning The Press?
Dittus Communications launched a new media-training component to its newly formed strategic communications practice. The unit will help train clients to communicate effectively with the press. Rory O'Connor, a former writer with the San Jose Mercury News, will head the new practice.
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