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The 'Fun World' Outside The White House
by Bara Vaida
Ten months after Jim Kohlenberger left the White House, the former senior policy adviser to Vice President Al Gore is now running his own consulting business. Kohlenberger, who was one of Gore's chief technology policy advisers, said in a recent interview that he is enjoying time to himself after eight years at the White House.
"This gives me a little bit more control over my life," Kohlenberger said of his consulting business, which includes providing policy strategy for telecommunications and technology companies. "It's a fun world out here."
If the election in Florida had ended differently and Gore had won the presidency, Kohlenberger said Gore would have had a tech agenda from the start of his administration. Much of the plan was outlined during the campaign, but Kohlenberger said it would have included proposals on maintaining technology's role as an engine of economic growth, guaranteeing more people access to technology, and ensuring that new technology supports "our oldest values."
When asked to grade the Bush administration's handling of technology policy, Kohlenberger declined. "It's too early for a grade," he said. "I have hope for them."
Before joining the White House in 1993, Kohlenberger spent seven years handling technology, transportation and other issues, for former Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif., who was the Senate minority whip at the time.
Tidbits From Agenda 2002
When luminaries gathered last week in Phoenix for the Agenda 2002 conference for high-rolling CEOs and venture capitalists, the state of the economy, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and anthrax scares were hot topics. But Tom Siebel, CEO of Siebel Systems, still said the present is "a great time to start a company" because of high vacancy rates and lower labor costs.
Eric Schmidt, who left the top job at Novell to become Google's chairman and CEO, also was bullish on the future. He joked about his role of "adult supervision" at one of the few remaining successful Internet companies. Schmidt said he took the job to engage in "field studies of 27-year-olds" and their "nocturnal work habits." He said Google succeeded because it did not pursue Internet fads but provided a simple product -- fast online searches -- that users wanted.
Jim Fallows, the national correspondent of Atlantic Monthly (which shares common ownership with the National Journal Group), hosted the two-day conference. He said he had interacted with the tech world both as a columnist for the late Industry Standard and as a six-month contract employee at Microsoft, where he worked as a consultant on the version of Microsoft Word included in the forthcoming Office XP.
Fallows introduced Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, whom he knew in college, and praised Ballmer for hiring him even though he know Fallows supported the Justice Department's antitrust case against the company. "I left Microsoft with a surprising view of Microsoft. It didn't change my view of antitrust, [but I was impressed] with the competition, openness and niceness of most people," Fallows said.
He also earned a round of applause when he boasted: "I had my own influence. I am the guy who got rid of the talking paperclip in the next version of Word."
New Faces In The Trade Groups
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has named Mario Correa to serve in the newly created position of director of Internet and network security policy. He will manage BSA's global policies on Internet and computer-security issues, including cyber crime and cyber terrorism, computer privacy, and encryption.
Correa joined BSA in 1998 and previously was its director of government affairs for Europe. Based in London, Correa managed the association's policy relations with European Union countries, and Middle Eastern and African nations. He also served as BSA's manager of trade policy in Washington. In that role, he worked closely with the State and Commerce departments, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Before that, Correa spent eight years as an aide to Rep. Constance Morella, R-Md.
In other trade group news, former CBS Chairman Michael Jordan has been elected chairman of the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), an association focused on trade policy, export finance, international tax law and human resource issues. Jordan will work closely with NFTC President William Reinsch, the former undersecretary of the Bureau of Export Administration during the Clinton administration. "With the economy in its current state, it's crucial that we support and promote international trade and engagement," Jordan said in a statement.
Lillie Coney has been named to the newly created position of public policy coordinator at the Association for Computing Machinery. Coney most recently served as the senior special assistant to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, where she worked on various science, technology and education issues and projects. Before joining Jackson Lee's office, Coney worked as a systems manager in the office of former Rep. Cardiss Collins, D-Ill., from 1991 to 1995.
Iowa's Utilities Chief Joins Verizon
Verizon Communications has named Allan Thoms, chairman of the Iowa Utilities Board for the past six years, to the newly created position of vice president of public policy and external affairs for Verizon's northwest region.
Thoms will be responsible for regulatory, governmental and external affairs for the telecommunications company in Washington state, Oregon and Idaho. He will join the company Oct. 29 and be based in the Northwest.
White House Tech Office Reorganizes
Richard Russell, who has been chief of staff at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) since early this year, will become OSTP's head of technology as part of a reorganization of the office, Science magazine reported. Russell, who earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Yale University in 1988, worked for the Republican-led House Science Committee from 1996 to 2000, the magazine said.
The OSTP has been without a director for most of the year, though President Bush nominated John Marburger for that job in June. Marburger is awaiting Senate confirmation.
The magazine also reported that OSTP will trim the number of senior staff and that White House planners may eliminate two senior posts, one for environmental science policy and the other for national security and international affairs policy.
The TechNet Calendar
TechNet, a bipartisan lobbying group based in Silicon Valley, is helping organize an Oct. 26 breakfast, co-hosted by Joint Venture Silicon Valley and the Commerce Department, to discuss public and private workforce-training programs for technology workers. Under legislation last year increasing the cap on H-1B visas for high-skilled foreign workers, the Commerce Department must assess high-tech training programs and provide a report to Congress.
On Oct. 29, TechNet is inviting its members to a David Packard Leadership Award dinner honoring Floyd Kvamme, Bush's pick to co-chair the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Business Executives for National Security, which also is inviting people to the dinner, lists former Netscape Chairman Jim Barksdale and Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as two of many executives hosting the dinner.
Separately, TechNet is searching for a new director of its Indianapolis "node" since the co-directors of the state organization resigned this past July, according to the Indiana Business Journal. In an advertisement in the Journal, TechNet said it prefers "Hoosier natives" for the job.
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