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Va. Taps Emergency Communications Chief
by Heather Greenfield
Emergency communications in Virginia will face no interruption thanks to the decision by Gov. Tim Kaine to promote Constance McGeorge as the leader of the state's efforts to ensure that emergency communications work across jurisdictions.
Kaine announced the appointment of McGeorge as the state's next interoperability coordinator. She will take the job that is housed within the Governor's Office of Commonwealth Preparedness.
McGeorge has served in the office since 2002, most recently as the statewide critical infrastructure coordinator, and has chaired the National Capital Region's Critical Infrastructure Working Group. She also has been a member of the State Interoperability Executive Committee since its creation.
She will replace Chris Essid, who has resigned to become director of the Office of Emergency Communications within the Department of Homeland Security.
"It is critical that fire, police and other emergency workers have the ability to talk to each other and operate effectively together during emergencies and catastrophic events," Kaine said. "We appreciate Chris Essid's leadership for the past three years and know that Constance McGeorge's experience will allow the commonwealth to continue this very important work without interruption."
Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, meanwhile, has named U.S. Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio, to serve on the newly formed Ohio Broadband Council. It is supposed to help get the state connected to the high-speed Internet.
"Governor Strickland knows as well as I do that the future of Ohio's economy depends on our ability to compete in the modern, high-tech economy," Space said. "If we do not have this infrastructure in place, there is no question that we will be left behind. Every day we do not have broadband is another day that companies will bypass the Ohio when looking to relocate."
Space will join two members of his Appalachian Ohio Broadband Taskforce, Stan Ahalt and Gary Little, on the statewide Ohio Broadband Council. Space is a freshman congressman who took office this year and has worked on both broadband expansion and renewable energy issues.
Takai Takes California's New CIO Job
The technology association AeA is praising the appointment of California's first Cabinet-level chief information officer.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Teresa Takai as CIO. Schwarzenegger imported her from Michigan, where Takai has been director of the Michigan Department of Information Technology and also served as the state's chief information officer since 2003.
There she has restructured and consolidated Michigan's resources by merging the state's information technology into one centralized department serving 19 agencies and more than 1,700 employees. Michigan was ranked No. 1 in the nation four years in a row in digital government by the Center for Digital Government during Takai's tenure.
AeA helped drive the push to create the California CIO position. Its members were frustrated by their inability to offer technology products and services to the government overseeing the world's sixth-largest economy.
Roxanne Gould, senior vice president of California government and public affairs for AeA, said the hope is that California will be "less risk-adverse" in its technology purchases.
She said AeA pursued the creation of Takai's job because AeA companies believe an empowered state CIO will provide consistency in technological solutions and procurements.
"Such a CIO will be able to drive the purchase of the enterprise-wide applications essential for improving government performance, reducing fraud and leveraging existing programs to better serve the citizens of California, all the while promoting technology as an essential means to almost every public policy end," Gould said.
"This is a significant achievement for California and our member companies," Gould said. "AeA looks forward to working with Ms. Takai in streamlining California's IT procurements. Her proven track record as Michigan's State CIO speaks for itself."
SEC Charges Gifford With Backdating
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges last week against legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jack Gifford and the former chief financial officer of Maxim Integrated Products, a semiconductor company.
Gifford is charged with improperly backdating stock options to make them more valuable for employees and directors.
"Maxim's seeming ability to pick favorable grant dates for its employees was too good to be true -- in 10 consecutive quarters, Maxim granted options on the date with the lowest stock price of the quarter," Linda Chatman Thomsen, the SEC's enforcement director, said in a statement. She said in reality that Maxim selected the supposed grant dates with the benefit of hindsight, "allowing it to hide millions of dollars in expenses from shareholders."
Trade Official Is Named 'Cyber Champion'
The Business Software Alliance is hailing U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab with its 2007 "cyber champion" award for her leadership and commitment to policies that further free trade and promote technology innovation.
BSA Chief Executive Robert Holleyman said that under Schwab's tenure, USTR has expanded its reputation as an outstanding advocate for American products and services and as a world leader in removing trade barriers. Schwab has negotiated trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea, paving the way to additional trade opportunities for U.S. companies.
Since being confirmed in June 2006, she has pressed for strong copyright protections for intellectual property and full implementation of World Intellectual Property Organization treaties. She also uses an annual review process to call attention to countries with inadequate intellectual property protections.
Holleyman credited Schwab's candor about the theft of intellectual property in many countries with motivating Russia to pass legislation targeting pirated software on the market and reinforcing a trend toward greater use of legally obtained software. Holleyman said China and Vietnam also have made important strides toward the use of legal software.
"Ambassador Susan Schwab has been an outstanding champion of the technology industry, as demonstrated by her tireless and successful efforts to improve access to foreign markets through bilateral trade deals, championing intellectual property protections, and leveling the playing field with major U.S. trading partners," Holleyman said.
Before her appointment as USTR, Schwab was the deputy USTR, overseeing trade relations with Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.
Quote Of The Week
"Now we and the Earth's climate are locked in a relationship familiar to war planners: 'Mutually assured destruction.' It is time to make peace with the planet."
-- Former Vice President Al Gore, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize for his documentary about the impact of global warming.
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