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Back In The CEO Saddle Again
by Heather Greenfield
Amit Yoran is back on the job as a CEO, this time at NetWitness, a network forensics firm whose technology analyzes raw data. In April, Yoran left as CEO of In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the CIA, to spend more time with his family and less time traveling.
"With the addition of Amit, NetWitness is well-positioned to execute on a sizable market opportunity and to continue with our rapid growth," NetWitness President Nick Lantuh said.
Yoran was at In-Q-Tel for four months, and before that he led the cyber-security division at the Homeland Security Department. While Yoran has never said why he left Homeland Security, some observers thought he was frustrated at how difficult it was to make changes and improvements there.
Yoran said NetWitness "has solved difficult problems providing unique insight into 'blind spots' within computer networks," and he looks forward to working with them. Yoran co-founded Riptech, a security services provider that Symantec took over in 2002.
Togas, Technology And Tough Choices
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum, or at least an amusing thing for those attending the annual banquet of the Northern Virginia Technology Council on Thursday.
The guests were greeted by two live statues on pedestals as they entered the event. The mannequin models, one in a white toga and the other in bronze and a small cloth, looked almost like statues until their eyes followed the arriving guests or one occasionally paused to offer a stone-like hand to a guest.
No togas were required for the 700 person-dinner, whose theme was "night at the forum." "It's definitely the biggest tech networking event of the year," NVTC Chairman John Lee said, noting that the theme was tied to the keynote speech on planning for the future.
It probably helped that former Hewlett-Packard executive Carly Fiorina was an ancient histories and philosophy major during her undergraduate years at Stanford University. "Leadership is about making tough choices that are not obvious to everyone," Fiorina said.
She said she was working on her book "Tough Choices" when she "got sacked" by HP and then had time to finish it. She promised that the first couple pages explain the details of what happened, but she did not talk about that during her speech.
"The speech was a very practical and insightful guide in what it takes to be a leader in any endeavor, but Carly's experiences in the technical field made the material especially resonate with the tech business leaders in the room that are continually challenged to innovate in order to keep pace," said Jim Ivers, senior vice president of corporate marketing at Cybertrust.
Telecom Industry Praises FCC's Martin
Herschel Abbott, BellSouth's vice president of government affairs, congratulated FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on his reconfirmation to his post.
"Under his leadership the FCC has eliminated unnecessary broadband regulations while maintaining strong consumer protections, with the result that broadband has exploded and [digital subscriber line] prices have declined," Abbott said in a statement Friday. He added that Martin "brings enormous knowledge and skill to the position, as well as a fertile and productive mind. His decisions have been equitable and balanced."
Walter McCormick, president and CEO of the U.S. Telecom Association, said his group "will continue to work closely with the chairman and the other commissioners to implement policies to spur the deployment of broadband, resolve the challenges of intercarrier compensation and preserve the future for universal service."
The Senate unanimously confirmed Martin to a second term Thursday. Martin, 39, has served on the FCC since 2001 and has led it since 2005.
One of the looming issues ahead will be whether Martin is able to usher an AT&T, BellSouth merger past the two Democrats on the commission who want to see some conditions attached to the deal.
Changing Of The Guard At Tech Daily
Sharon McLoone, who has been an editor at Technology Daily since it began in January 1999, has decided not to return to the publication after maternity leave. McLoone has a two-year-old daughter and three month-old son, and plans to stay home to care for them for the next year.
"It was a really tough decision for me," McLoone said.
McLoone was an editor at USA Today and before that worked as a reporter for Telecommunications Reports. She said it was a lucky first move because "in the mid-90s, none of the telecom reporters wanted to cover the strange new beast called the Internet, so they gave that beat to the new kid."
She said Tech Daily began during the impeachment proceedings for President Clinton, and getting sources to focus on another issue was a challenge for some and a relief for others.
She said it has been interesting to follow tech-focused politics and policy issues under different administrations. "While the Internet has been a conundrum for many, now both Republicans and Democrats try to champion their efforts as the most tech-friendly party -- and that's something that never would have happened earlier on," McLoone said.
She noted how the tech industry has matured in its relationship with Capitol Hill and the White House, especially since the antitrust case against Microsoft "made more tech firms take notice of their own behavior toward Washington and the importance of public perception." McLoone added that the industry "consistently faces the challenge of having so many different types of firms under the 'technology' umbrella that it's not always easy to cohere on an issue."
Lou Peck, the editor-in-chief of Tech Daily, lauded McLoone's leadership. "Her sense of responsibility, combined with a keen proprietary instinct, helped Tech Daily to weather the difficult times in which it found itself following the tech sector downturn of 2001-2002," he said.
K. Daniel Glover has replaced McLoone as editor. Glover also is the author of Beltway Blogroll, a feature at NationalJournal.com focused on the policy and political impact of blogs. Previously, he was an editor and reporter for Congressional Quarterly.
"After six years as managing editor under Sharon's excellent tutelage, I'm ready for the challenge, and I'm definitely excited about it," Glover said.
He added: "I had a blast this summer working with a top-notch team of reporters and interns on our politics and technology series, and we continued the fun into the fall with more campaign stories and a detailed look at e-voting technology. Now we have the 110th Congress and a whole host of tech policy issues to look forward to the next two years."
Glover joined Tech Daily just days before Republicans regained the White House in 2000. He remembers well "the energy that change in power breathed into our news organization" and already is seeing the same journalistic energy emerge as power in Congress shifts to Democrats.
"One of my goals for Tech Daily going forward is to find ways to use the tools of the industry we cover to tell the stories that affect the industry," Glover said. "Blogs, podcasts, wikis, widgets, you name it -- if there's some new technology out there that can help improve our journalism, I want to find a way to use it."
Quote Of The Week
"We're hopeful we can get some kind of skilled visa reform through Congress, with the emphasis on hopeful, 'Tis the season to be hopeful."
-- Robert Hoffman, a lobbyist for Oracle, speaking about the tech industry agenda for the rest of the post-election session.
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