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The Homeland Security 'Dream Team'
by Ted Leventhal
Seasoned national security experts have teamed up to launch Civitas Group, a joint venture to advise business and government clients on the emerging homeland security field. The new company includes senior executives and advisers who are being billed as a "dream team" of national security experts from the past three administrations.
Michael Hershman, former chief of the security firm Decision Strategies, is the firm's CEO and boasts 30 years' experience in the security field. His government career includes work as deputy auditor general of the foreign-assistance program at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He also was a senior staff investigator on the Senate Watergate Committee.
Civitas is Latin for "community," and its founders "had in mind creating an organization that would help promote security and safety in a community of people or amongst a civilization," Hershman said. He envisions Civitas as a full-service homeland security consultant, providing lobbying, procurement assistance, executive recruitment, strategic advice and issue monitoring.
"We will be consulting with companies interested in doing business with federal, state and local governments in [the security] area," he said. Civitas also will represent firms that have problems with or ideas for agencies developing security rules and regulations, and it will provide capital formulation for companies that require capital to develop security products.
Civitas' co-chairs are Samuel (Sandy) Berger, former national security adviser and chairman of Stonebridge International, and Charlie Black, a former senior adviser to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush and now the chairman of BKSH & Associates.
The advisory board chairman for Civitas is former Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., who also led the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century. Board members include counter-terrorism expert Richard Clarke, former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Allbaugh and former National Security Agency Director Kenneth Minihan.
Powell Denies Report About Leaving FCC
Time magazine reports that FCC Chairman Michael Powell is making plans to leave the commission, though Powell denied the report.
Citing industry sources, Time reports that Powell may leave as soon as this fall and that three of his top staffers have begun job searches. Possible replacements for Powell, Time says, include Rebecca Klein, the Texas public-utility commission chief and a former staffer to President George Bush when he was governor of that state, and Republican FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin.
One change at the FCC is certain: Jerry Duvall, chief economist of the Media Bureau, has been named director of media economic research. Tracy Waldon will succeed him as chief economist.
Duvall will lead a new economic research initiative emphasizing independent market analysis. He has been chief economist since 2002 and was the Mass Media Bureau's chief economist from 1996 until then. Earlier, he was a senior economist with Intelsat and a private consultant.
Marshaling The Microsoft Troops
Microsoft has named retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Dees as executive director of defense strategies for the firm. Dees will help Microsoft form strategic partnerships with systems integrators as it attempts to make inroads into the military's computer procurement.
Dees retired from the Army in September 2002 after a 30-year career and was one of its highest-ranking soldiers. He commanded the 2nd Infantry Division along the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea and was the deputy commander of the Army's V Corps in Europe. He also helped plan Operation Iraqi Freedom before he retired.
Dees said Microsoft plans to develop systems to improve communications within and among military services, armies and nations to better prepare the military for coalition warfare. Microsoft's XML technology has great potential for linking the military's currently distinct proprietary networks, he said.
Dees said the need for U.S. military officials to be able communicate across their various technology systems was "burned into my psyche from less than pleasant" experiences. "I can help Microsoft best understand the needs of the military," he said.
"Microsoft is in the midst of a tremendous transition," Dees added. "We are often seen as simply a desktop company, but Microsoft over the past few years has transitioned into a solutions provider teaming with major partners. That is a point not to be missed by American business or those that watch the defense sector."
Elsewhere in the tech industry, Kathy McKiernan, AOL Time Warner's long-time press liaison on government relations issues, is leaving to attend Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government for a mid-career, one-year master's degree in public policy. Andrew Weinstein is expected to assume her duties. McKiernan joined AOL in 1998 and said she "more than likely" will return to Washington after completing her education.
Software Group Picks A New Name
The Interactive Digital Software Association, the trade group representing U.S. computer and videogame publishers, has renamed itself the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).
"We did not arrive at this decision lightly," association president Douglas Lowenstein said in a statement. After consulting with allies in industry, media and government, "it was clear to us that ESA adds a clarity and focus" that will enhance the group as it prepares for its 10th anniversary.
In other news, a few lobbyists have registered to work for tech and broadcasting firms.
Former House Commerce Committee majority counsel Justin Lilley has registered to lobby for Audible.com on "e-commerce and appropriations matters," including the moratorium on certain Internet taxes. Audible provides audio versions of books and periodicals on the Internet.
The search-engine firm Google, meanwhile, has tapped G. Furman (Trey) Barnes and Maureen Walsh's Public Policy Partners as its Washington representative. The firm is monitoring financial services, corporate governance and trade issues, as well as anything Internet-related for Google.
And Terry Haines of the Alexander Strategy Group has registered to lobby for the Spanish Broadcasting System on "broadcast ownership" issues. Haines previously was a chief counsel and staff director of the House Financial Services Committee. The Spanish Broadcasting System opposes the pending merger of its rival, the Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation, and the Spanish-language television firm Univision.
'Spellbound' By Classic Films
Visions DC, the cinema and bar founded by Association for Competitive Technology Executive Director Jonathan Zuck, was reborn as Bar Noir at a gala party last Thursday.
Zuck, a film buff who travels to several international festivals each year to scout cutting-edge films, loves classic noir films and wanted a new look for his theater to distinguish it from other alternative film venues in the Washington area.
The new drinks menu includes "Garbo" and "Bergman" martinis and "Key Largo" and "Spellbound" cocktails.
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