Tech Lobbyists Hopeful about Obama Administration

November 10, 2008  

The tech industry is optimistic that it will have Barack Obama’s ear.

The tech president?

There’s plenty of reason to feel that way: Google chief executive Eric Schmidt is among the advisors the President-elect invited to his economic summit Friday; a member of his transition team, Julius Genachowski, is a former tech exec; and the Obama team has posted a lengthy science and technology agenda on its transition Web site.

Still, the industry will have to overcome one problem that has held back its agenda: It’s hard to know who to listen to. Historically, the technology industry hasn’t lobbied as aggressively–or in as coordinated a way–as traditional powers like the auto or pharmaceutical industries. One consequence is that lots of little groups sprung up to represent the industry’s interests in Washington – all with hard-to-remember initialisms, of course.

The Business Software Alliance, or BSA, says it represents software companies and their hardware partners. The Information Technology Industry Council, which goes by ITI and claims to be the “premier group of the nation’s leading high-tech companies,” shouldn’t be confused with Information Technology Association of America, or ITAA, which calls itself the “premier high-tech industry association.” There’s also CompTIA, the AeA, CEA, and CCIA just to name a few. Politicians can be excused for getting confused.

This week, the AeA announced that it is planning to merge with the ECA. This comes about six weeks after the AeA and the ITAA, which had previously merged with the CSIA and the GEITA, announced that they intended to merge. “Everyone’s an acronym,” says Anne Caliguiri, a spokeswoman for the AeA. “It’s hard to keep track of.” Hopefully the mergers will help.

-Ben Worthen