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This is a story about tech CEOs advising the administration of President Barack Obama.
CEOs pitch W.H. on cost-cutting tech
By: Kim Hart
October 6, 2010 12:01 AM EDT
Six Silicon Valley CEOs are heading to the White House Wednesday to advise economic officials on how the government can save $1 trillion over the next decade.
The answer, they say, is more efficient technology.
That includes reducing the number of data centers by adopting cloud computing, using advanced analytics software programs to cut down on contracting errors and transitioning to all-digital record keeping.
Sounds simple enough – these efforts have been underway in corporate America for years. But the slow-moving federal bureaucracy, partisan bickering and unnecessary red tape have hindered cut-cutting measures that most CEOs say are no-brainers.
The Technology CEO Council, led by IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano, will make that case today.
Other CEOs in the meetings are Micron CEO Steven Appleton, Motorola CEO Greg Brown, Intel CEO Paul Otellini, EMC CEO Joseph Tucci and Applied Materials CEO Michael Splinter. (Dell CEO Michael Dell is also a member of the group, but will not be part of today’s visit.)
“There’s a whole lot of bipartisan focus on government spending,” said Bruce Mehlman, partner at lobbying firm Mehlman, Vogel, Castagnetti, who is also executive director of the Technology CEO Council. “We believe all spending is not equal and all taxes are not equal, and if a business leader were running the country they would double down investments in things like research that lead to long term growth.
“And they would avoid taxing employers in ways that hinder growth,” Mehlman added. “They would operate the business of government with greater efficiency.”
In a 12-page report, the executives lay out ways to spend smarter. It specifically supports new efforts put forth by White House Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Jeffrey Zeints and federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, such as cloud computing, that do not require any additional legislation.
The report cites several examples of how the companies have cut their own costs by making data centers more energy-efficient, selling surplus facilities and consolidating redundant positions with new information technology systems.
“The business and economic risk associated with inaction is no longer tolerable,” says the report, obtained by POLITICO. “We also know these savings can be realized while at the same time improving service. We’ve seen it in industry after industry, and we’ve seen it in our own companies’ transformations.”
The Technology CEO Council, which started as the Computer Systems Policy Project 22 years ago, makes annual trips to Washington to meet with administration officials and lawmakers about a specific goal they think should be addressed from a business perspective.
In 2005, for example, they pitched the importance of electronic health records. In 1997, they pushed ideas to boost the then-fledgling e-commerce industry.
Most of the ideas they choose to focus on are “low-hanging” fruit that most policymakers already agree on, but sometimes have difficulty getting past political roadblocks, said Michael Nelson, visiting professor at Georgetown University who received the council’s reports while he worked in the Clinton White House.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is one of a handful of Republicans who have asked pointed questions about cloud computing initiatives put forth by the Obama administration, contributing to the slow progress in adopting the new technology, Nelson said.
“The politics in Washington are so poisonous now that if one party comes up with a brave new initiative, the other party reflexively says they have a problem with it,” Nelson said. “It takes a group like this to say, ‘Wait a minute, this is a good idea’ to get something done.”
“Politically, this report could change things,” he added. “The fact that CEOs, who are almost all Republicans, say the Democratic administration is doing the right thing…could get past the petty politics.”

This page was created on: October 06, 2010