 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
In Remembrance Of Robert De Lorenzi
by Bara Vaida
Robert de Lorenzi, president and CEO of Patriot Computer Group and chief technology officer (CTO) for President Bush's transition team, died April 14 while recovering from recent surgery.
Many friends and family in the northern Virginia high-tech community attended an April 18 memorial service for de Lorenzi. Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican who attended the memorial, also entered words in the Congressional Record honoring de Lorenzi's service to the community.
De Lorenzi, who also was chief information officer for the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, came to the transition team through the recommendation of Northern Virginia Technology Council President Bobbie Kilberg. The NVTC, which represents northern Virginia companies, has established a Bob de Lorenzi Telework Innovation Award to honor telework ideas submitted by students of George Mason University.
Senate Powwow With Powell
Member of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force met with FCC Chairman Michael Powell last Tuesday to discuss the high-speed Internet, regulatory burdens, media ownership and the state of the economy.
A source who attended the meeting said that during the discussion, Powell told members that he is not going to regulate the broadband market in the absence of a law, as some have speculated. Many telecommunications analysts expect the FCC to loosen rules on telephone companies in order to encourage them to deploy broadband services, but Powell said there is no way his agency can implement the scope of changes that would occur under the Tauzin-Dingell broadband bill, which currently is stalled in the Senate.
When asked for advice on how Congress should approach telecom issues, Powell suggested that lawmakers look to the economic and business trends in the market for guidance. He also said he is optimistic about the health of the telecom sector in the long term. Senators at the task force event included: task force Chairman George Allen and his fellow Virginia Republican, John Warner; Wayne Allard of Colorado; Conrad Burns of Montana; and John Ensign of Nevada.
The Executive View Of Homeland Security
Kevin Varney is a new staff member at Business Executives for National Security, a 20-year-old organization that, among other things, is providing advice to the White House on homeland security. Varney is directing the group's new threats initiative, which focuses on cyber security, the tracking and seizure of terrorist organizations' assets and critical infrastructure protection.
Just before taking his new position, Varney spent four years as a partner at Public Strategies Washington. Before that, he was a senior aide to then-Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen and deputy chief of staff in the Clinton White House's National Economic Council.
His projects for the business executives will include convening a working group in Silicon Valley to tackle infrastructure protection.
In the administration, meanwhile, President Bush formally nominated Richard Russell to be associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), where he will focus on technology policy. Russell has been OSTP's chief of staff since January 2000. From 1995 to 2001, he was the staff director for the House Science Technology Subcommittee and deputy chief of staff for the full committee. Senate confirmation of Russell is still pending.
Changes In The Public Affairs World
Sean Garrett, a former spokesman for the lobbying group TechNet and for Listen.com, has been named director at the public affairs firm Applied Communications. Garrett is director of the firm's practice networks, which aims to develop best practices in public relations for clients.
Before joining Applied Communications, Garrett helped launch the communications group on tech policy at Alexander Ogilvy, where he worked on the development of TechNet. He also managed communications for several statewide and international political campaigns, and served on the media relations staff for former California Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican.
Elsewhere on the public affairs front, Dittus Communications has hired Regina Whitley as senior vice president of strategic planning and business development, where she will lead new business development within the technology sector. Whitley previously held senior management roles at Dell Computer, PSINet, MCI Worldcom and Sprint International. She also worked for five years in Asia, where she helped launch a Hong Kong telecom company called Wharf Group. Most recently, she was national sales manager at TCI Companies.
Dittus also has hired Nancy Booth as manager of business development, where she will focus on guiding corporate and association clients with marketing, public relations and design consultation. Previously, she developed Web-based campaigns for the National Parks and Conservation Association and the World Wildlife Fund.
Meanwhile, Michelle Semones has left Dittus Communications as associate director of technology policy to return to the Hill as press secretary for the minority at the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. "I missed the Hill," Semones said. "I learned a lot at Dittus, but when this opportunity came up, I thought it would be good to take it to get Senate and committee experience. Semones, a Roanoke, Va., native, previously spent four years working for Congressional Internet Caucus co-Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.
FASB's Newest Leader
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has named Robert Herz as chairman, replacing Edmund Jenkins, who will retire June 30 after completing his five-year term.
Herz is currently a senior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, North America theater leader of professional, technical, risk and quality for the firm, and a member of its global and U.S. boards. He also serves as a part-time member of the International Accounting Standards Board. He joined Price Waterhouse in 1974.
Former IBM Engineer Earns Science Award
Eric Bloch, a principal at the Washington Advisory Group, is to receive the National Science Foundation's 2002 Vannevar Bush award to honor his longstanding reputation in research and innovation.
Early in his career, Bloch was an electrical engineer at IBM and a key figure in the development of IBM's Stretch Computer Systems Engineering and the IBM 360, which NSF said helped revolutionize the computer industry. Bloch also was NSF's director between 1984 and 1990, where he built national support for advances in high-performance computing and networking.
Tauzin Cooking It Up For Martha
Martha Stewart recognized the culinary talents of House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman W.J. (Billy) Tauzin, R-La., in the May issue of Martha Stewart Living, printing the lawmaker's recipe for gumbo. The recipe appears in the "Cooking with Martha" section of the magazine, but the lawmaker did not appear on one of Stewart's TV shows, Tauzin said.
A friend of Tauzin's knows Stewart and showed her the cookbook "Cajun Treats" that Tauzin co-authored with his cousin Jimmy Gravis. Tauzin insisted that even a northerner could make an authentic pot of gumbo if following his recipe. "The secret is in the roux," he said, noting that his recipe calls for a quick, but just as effective, technique for creating the mixture of flour and fat that is used as a thickening agent.
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
