The 463: Inside Tech Policy

Tech Policy -- In the Flesh

What could possibly be better than online babble about tech policy issues?  How about face-to-face discussion action!

I know.  The minds reels.  When?!  Where?!  Who?!

Calm down and pace yourself.  The Tech Policy Summit just officially announced itself.  The executive-level event will be next February 26 and 27 in Silicon Valley.  Already, Intel, AT&T, Comcast, IBM, Cisco, Verizon, WIRED magazine and National Journal are on board.  As are the noteworthy journalists Walt Mossberg of the WSJ, Karen Tumulty of TIME, Jim Goldman of CNBC, Drew Clark and Bara Vaida of National Journal/Technology Daily, Larry Magid of CBS News and Om Malik of Business 2.0/GigaOm.

And, yes, 463 Communications is also lending a hand along with the good folks at the New America Foundation, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation and the Association for Competitive Technology.

Can't wait until February?  Then join us at the Progress and Freedom Foundation's Aspen Summit next month.

Flickr photo credit.

Doerr Says No Bit Discrimination

As noted, TechNet's execs this week were in DC for their annual trip to the world's policy mecca to urge lawmakers to pursue policies that protect US innovation.

Part of the trip included the regular trip to the White House, Congress and FCC, but the group also held an interesting discussion at the Press Club on the future of innovation.

The panel, moderated by Time Magazine political reporter Karen Tumulty, featured four leading TechNet executives, including prominent Silicon Venture venture capitalist and TechNet co-founder John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld, Akamai Chairman George Conrades and Conexant CEO Dwight Decker.

The executives discussed education, clean-technologies, high-skilled immigration, network neutrality, Sarbanes-Oxley reform, increased research and development funding, privacy, e-health, convergence and a host of other issues affecting the industry.

“Net Neutrality should be called bit discrimination because that’s what the issue is all about,” said John Doerr. “Today, all bits are now equal, but some want to change that. This affects startups, large companies but in the end it affects consumers negatively if we don’t do the right thing on net neutrality.”

More after the jump... 

@TechNet Day

We're at the annual TechNet Day executive visit to Washington, DC.  More later.  Two quick photos from last night's TechNet's board meeting and reception at Zaytina held with the Business Software Alliance....
Art Coviellio, RSA Security CEO, and John Doerr, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner and TechNet co-chairman.

Around 400 people attended the TechNet/BSA reception.  It was one of the bigger tech policy shindigs in recent memory.  Great food and plenty of drinks to wash down the Net Neutrality talk.

DC Tech Policy Events This Week

Some notable tech policy-related events in DC this week...congressional hearings on digital music licensing, health IT, and Baby Bell mergers.

Events This Week & On the Horizon

Tech policy events the week of 5/8-5/12... and an event to look out for...  Including Katrina and communications; PFF's big security conference; and, a Silicon Valley MuniWireless event in June...

Tech Policy Palooza

Lollapalooza is back this year with a three-day festival under the hot Chicago August sun.

The Computer Freedom & Privacy (CFP) conference is hitting DC next week with FOUR days of hot geek on geek debating action.

Lollapalooza will feature rock, hip-hop, alt-country, house, garage, electro, punk and dancehall.

CFP will throw down with all the most kickin' tech policy genres like Net Neutrality, privacy, digital content policy, Internet governance, and cyber security.

Sleater-Kinney, Built to Spill, Kayne West, The Flaming Lips, Gnarls Barkley, The Rapture and dozens of other artists will blast Chicago's Grant Park.

Senator Patrick Leahy, Congressman Joe Barton, Stewart Baker of DHS, PFF's Jim Delong, Google's Andrew McLaughlin, and Web 1.0-gone-2.0 guy Jonah Seiger will all be waving their arms in the air like they just don't care at the L'efant Plaza Hotel. 

[Oddly, former Tsunami and Grenadine lead singer, Jenny Toomey, will be on a CFP panel and not on the Chicago stage.  (She's actually the executive director of the Future of Music coalition)].

BTW, as I think about it, Lollapalooza organizer Perry Farrell would fit right in at a CFP event.  Maybe we can get him to spin at the 463 Happy Hour on Thursday night.

After the jump, our panel picks...   

This Week's DC Tech Policy Events

Notable events in DC this week (4/24-4/28) after the jump. The House and Senate are back in session and interoperability and competitiveness seem to be the topics of the week.

Bush @Cisco

The downsides of the Iraqi war are aplenty.  But, one that doesn't get much mention by Bush critics is the fact that the War on Terrorism has taken W away from some of the elements of domestic policy that are in his comfort zone and benefit greatly from the President's attention.

Bush first gained the approval of the Republican tech crowd when he began his 2000 presidential campaign because he spoke from the heart about education reform and he spoke with experience as Governor of Texas.  Bush's interpersonal skills and ability to extemporaneously talk in-depth about education won over a group of tech executives who met with Bush at Cisco in 1999.  The execs weren't just supportive.  They were enthused and they were brought into the Bush fold for the long haul.

Obviously, today's forum at Cisco could be interpreted as partial payback for the support (here's the who and why behind the event).  But, more than anything, it was a welcome slice of what those tech execs hoped for when they got behind Bush.  The President spoke today with authority about education reform; public and private R&D funding; our innovation race with countries like China and India; and, and his administration's strategy for keeping America competitive.  No one begrudges the impact of 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq and Katrina, but one can see how the President might have firmly cemented himself as the deserving Education President without those factors.  Don't just take our word for it, you can watch the entire Cisco event here.

After the jump are a few more 463 photos and the transcript of the event....

W in SV

President Bush will be back in Silicon Valley on Friday for an event at Cisco to pump the laudable American Competitiveness Initiative that hopefully resonates back in Congress.  And, in a rare joint appearance, Governor Schwarzenegger will be joining the president (only nine days after he met with CEOs at Cisco to talk innovation).

Groups like TechNet and the Technology CEO Council have been working their tails off behind the scenes to get something like the American Competitiveness Initiative on top of the list of national policy priorities for years.  And, while much of this work is relatively thankless and out of the sight and minds of many in the technology industry (including the media who cover it), the Bush/Schwarzenegger visit will be highly visible validation for it.

Governator Visiting TechNet

The Governator is down in the Valley today visiting the campus of Cisco and meeting with about 10 of the most prominent tech CEOs, including Scott McNealy, John Chambers and others.  The event is organized by TechNet and the group will be talking economic growth, environment, education and other important issues to the tech community.

While we don't always agree with the Governor, he deserves credit for putting California at the forefront of doing its share to protect the environment. 

New Tech Policy Podcast

For those of you who want some portable tech policy goodness (and, really, who doesn't?), National Journal's Technology Daily now produces a weekly audio show called the Tech Policy Pod.  You can listen to the weekly wrap up of top tech policy news on on the show's blog or you can get the podcast on PodCast Alley, iTunes and several other top podcast aggregation sites.  Tech Daily's Danny Glover is the host.

This Week in Tech Policy Events (4/3-4/7)

The 463 presents a new weekly feature after the jump...

This week's highlights include a forum on telecom reform; a panel that includes Sen. George Allen, R-Va.; Steve Case, chairman of Revolution LLC; and Jim Larranaga, coach of the George Mason University men's basketball team; a hearing on US competitiveness with both the Labor and Education Secretaries; and, a hearing on health IT....

Doing Davos

The 463 will be at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos next week.  We will be busy with client work, but plan on sending reports back on the village that morphs into a cross between the UN, Aspen and Nobu on a Friday night.  We will be well-embedded in a flock of Davos veterans, but still would greatly appreciate any recommendations and suggestions.

The official Davos blog is here. 

News from the Meeting can be found here.

Flagging the Spectrum of Neutral Porn...

The Senate Commerce Committee's upcoming tech policy hearing schedule, of course...

Thursday, January 19 2:30 PM
Internet Pornography - LIVE WEBCAST
Full Committee Hearing

Tuesday, January 24 10:00 AM
Broadcast and Audio Flag - LIVE WEBCAST
Full Committee Hearing

Thursday, January 26 10:00 AM
Competition and Convergence - LIVE WEBCAST
Full Committee Hearing

Tuesday, February 7 10:00 AM
Net Neutrality - LIVE WEBCAST
Full Committee Hearing

Wednesday, February 15 10:00 AM
FCC Activities and Policy - LIVE WEBCAST
Full Committee Hearing

Thursday, March 2 10:00 AM
Wireless Issues/Spectrum Reform - LIVE WEBCAST
Full Committee Hearing

I Wish I Could Go to Mashup Camp

No, it's not a new dance craze and has nothing to do with Alan Alda, but David Berlind over at News.com is putting on a very cool conference in Silicon Valley in late February on the topic of "Mashups." 

For the DC people in the house, what's mashup you ask?  It's the blending of two applications into one really cool new one. Mashups are the very innovative merger of one or more of these APIs with each other and/or with a public or private database that doesn't appear on the Web.  A few cool ones are parkingcarma.com and HomePriceMaps.

You should check it out and get yourself to this great event put on by Mr. Berlind.

Final Thoughts on Aspen

Some three-dot quick reflections after getting readjusted to sea-level....  PFF's Aspen Summit is still the best tech policy conference of the year.   Tier-one speakers, well-polished organization by PFF and, best of all, high-quality relaxed schmoozing with a great representation of quality people from the content, distribution, tech and policymaking worlds.... The Congressional Internet Caucus puts on a very good mini-conference in DC every February, but the location is so close to the Hill that it feels like an extension of everyday Washington life/chatter.... We do wonder if there is room for another tech policy conference that is both away from the daily DC grind and is perhaps more "democratic" than a $4000 shindig in lovely Aspen (though, kudos to PFF for the free Web casts of the proceedings available to all)....

Others on Aspen

Other voices:

From the debonaire John Earnhardt of Cisco.

From the extremely helpful Patrick Ross at PFF.  I don't know how he and Amy Smorordin managed to write so many press releases while also assisting quote hungry reporters and annoying PR folks like me.

And, more from the PFF blog.

FCC's Institutional Memory Joins Cisco

The Washington Post's "In the Loop Column" reports that Bob Pepper, an institution at the FCC, one of the nation's leading telecom policy experts and an overall good guy, is heading to the private sector to join Cisco.  There's probably no one out there who has more institutional knowledge and memory of the FCC than Dr. Pepper.  More on the Post story here.

Phil Bond is a Monster

Phil Bond, currently the under secretary for commerce for technology at the Department of Commerce, is leaving his post to join Monster Worldwide as SVP of government relations.  Monster Worldwide owns the big online recruiting firm and blimp operator Monster.com.

Bond was considered by many to be the most visible and active tech policy leader in the Bush Administration.

The full press release is here. 

TechNet Innovation Event Photos & Coverage

As noted here, TechNet announced it's 2005 Innovation Policy Agenda last week.  The photos below are of TechNet co-founders John Doerr and John Chambers, TechNet President Rick White and NASDAQ CEO Bob Griefeld at the press conference in Washington, DC.  Click on the photos to enlarge.

Coverage of the Innovation Agenda can be found at CNN.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, Internet News, and many other outlets.

InformationWeek editorialized on the plan...

"Hats off to all promoting this aggressive agenda. Hopefully, the entire industry can embrace it, and it won't be left to policies that Congress must enact. Hats off, also, to the countries that are driving innovation through technology and educational advancements. They're helping build a robust global economy, but the U.S. shouldn't let its foundation of innovation crack."

And, for insight into what was discussed at a CEO media dinner that included represenatives from publications including Newsweek, TIME Magazine, Atlantic Monthly and the Washington Post see Cisco's government affairs blog.

TechNet Innovation Policy Agenda

TechNet held a press conference today at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to unveil its 2005 Innovation Policy Agenda.  Speaking at the morning press conference were Cisco CEO and TechNet co-founder John Chambers, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers partner and TechNet co-founder John Doerr, NASDAQ President Bob Greifeld and TechNet President Rick White. 

(For a link to the full text of the announcement and access to the complete TechNet Innovation Policy Agenda report click below.)

Tech CEOs in DC

An impressive gaggle of tech CEOs came to DC this week with a message to policymakers:  the United States can't take its economic leadership for granted. The CEOs, including Intel's Craig Barrett, NCR's Mark Hurd,  Unisys' Joseph McGrath, Dell's Kevin Rollins and EMC's Joe Tucci, outlined a competitiveness agenda focused on trade, innovation and eHealth. To get the full story click below....

Three-Dotted Internet Caucus Conference

The Congressional Internet Caucus annual "State of the Net Conference" took place yesterday in Washington, DC.... Here's a quick Caenian review.  It's a full-day, inside-the-Beltway perspective on tech policy issues and how Congress may or may not address them in the coming year.  Nearly 300 people registered for the conference.  Half of them were congressional staffers and the bulk of the other half were government affairs folks from tech and telecom firms and associations....  16 reporters covered the conference....   

Davos Peeks

463 has a consultant on the ground at Davos working with clients.  More from her later.  In the meantime, you can watch webcasts of official proceeding highlights here.

Here's the official WEF Davos blog.

The BBC has a the best engligh language Davos coverage.

How to sum up Davos?  The BBC's Tim Weber tries here.....

Internet Caucus Conference

Tim Lordan of the Congressional Internet Caucus is letting folks know about the quickly coalescing conference that the Caucus is putting on next month:

The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee will host the first annual Internet Caucus State of the Net Conference on Wednesday, February 9, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill (7:30 am -- 4:30 PM). Senator Ted Stevens will deliver the opening keynote address followed by policy debates and congressional staff panels on three issue tracks A) Trust, Privacy & Security, B) Intellectual Property and Innovation, and C) Media Convergence and the Telecom Act.  Industry leaders such as Stratton Sclavos, CEO, VeriSign, will also deliver keynotes. A full agenda is online here.

PFF European Events in February

The Progress & Freedom Foundation hold their first ever events Europe next month. The European outreach is envisioned as the first of an annual series of events with European policy leaders.              

The first event will be February 11th in Milan. The Foundation has organized an all-day conference on interoperability and open standards.  On February 15, PFF will co-host with the Centre for a New Europe a luncheon for European Parliament members and their staff.