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Tech Executive Sets Sights On Washington
by Ted LeventhalRealNetworks executive Alex Alben announced on Monday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for Washington's technology-heavy 8th congressional district, home to tech giants such as Microsoft, Expedia and AT&T Wireless.
Alben will seek to unseat six-term incumbent Jennifer Dunn and plans to make high-tech job creation the central theme of his campaign. In recent years, Dunn, a Republican, has been re-elected with margins as high as 60 percent. Dunn announced last spring that she would not run against Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., in 2004.
"A huge advantage to my constituents is that I have a very deep knowledge of the high-tech world," Alben told National Journal's Technology Daily, noting that in his tenure at RealNetworks and at Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Starwave, he has been active in e-commerce and intellectual property policy issues.
Alben, RealNetworks' vice president for governmental affairs, serves on the board of the Washington Council on International Trade and is a member of the Washington Software Alliance and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He was a member of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickel's economic development and high-tech tax policy task forces.
Alben said he has the support of key Democrats in Washington's congressional delegation, including Murray and Sen. Maria Cantwell, herself a former RealNetworks executive, and Reps. Jay Inslee, Adam Smith and Norm Dicks.
Alben said he supports continuing current visa programs that let U.S. firms employ highly skilled foreign workers, "but in the long term, we need to grow these jobs locally," he said. He noted that engineers represent 45 percent of China's doctoral students but only 4 percent in the United States. "These companies want to hire Americans for these jobs, but we are just not graduating these people," he added.
Concerned that America is falling further behind its economic rivals in math and science education, Alben said he would seek legislation providing college scholarships targeted to key economic sectors, such as nanotechnology or molecular biology. "It's not too late for us to take corrective action and make investments in education," he said.
Defense Luminaries Aid Satellite Firm
Wilton, Conn.-based PanAmSat has promoted Tom Eaton, the firm's current vice president for global sales and marketing, to president of its Washington operations, G2 Satellite Solutions.
The company also named several prominent government veterans to its advisory board to help develop new services for the U.S. military. The new members include former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, former General Services Administrator Terence Golden, one-time GOP vice presidential nominee and former Rep. Jack Kemp, former Defense Department Chief Information Officer Art Money, and former Undersecretary of State Bill Schneider.
Rep. Honda Gets Democratic Party Slot
Rep. Mike Honda, representing Silicon Valley in California's 15th district, has been named a deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), along with former White House adviser Ben Johnson and Women's Caucus Chairwoman Susan Turnbull.
In a statement, DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe praised Honda as being "instrumental in reaching out to the Asian-Pacific American community nationwide" and noted that Honda is "committed to social justice, tolerance and civil rights."
Jumping The Software Ship
Shannon Kellogg has cut short his tenure as director of information security policy with the Business Software Alliance (BSA). He moved to RSA Data Security on Sept. 8 and became director of government affairs, RSA's first full-time representative in several years.
Kellogg said that while BSA is "a great operation," he was recruited for the RSA job and just could not forgo the promotion. Before BSA, Kellogg was vice president for information security policy and programs at the Information Technology Association of America.
Kellogg began his career as a Middle East program officer with the International Republican Institute and transitioned to information security after earning a master's degree in public policy, focusing on technology policy. His new position will be based in Tyson's Corner, Va.
The Computer Systems Policy Project, meanwhile, is nearing the end of its search for a successor to Ken Kay, its longtime executive director. According to sources, the search committee has assembled a short list of three candidates and is expected to announce its choice in mid-October.
British Firm Buys Applied Communications
Washington, D.C.-based Applied Communications Group has been sold to U.K.-based Bite Communications, which had been seeking to expand its portfolio of technology clients, according to sources. President Allen Kelley has left the company and been replaced by Clive Armitage, Bite's CEO.
Applied will lose its name and Internet address, soon to become bitepr.com. Bite previously had a 20-person operation in San Francisco and has quadrupled its size after absorbing Applied's 60-person D.C. office. Bite is a subsidiary holding of the British company Next 15.
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