Senate Cybersecurity Bill Sparks Concerns about Government Control

A look at the week of January 31 in public advocacy for the IT channel:  This week, a compressive cyber bill under discussion in the Senate has some contractors worried about what they see as government overreach.  President Obama’s Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra stepped down last week, and members of the tech industry have expressed hope that his replacement will continue to engage in public-private partnerships.  Following the State of the Union, tech leaders are calling on President Obama for more business-friendly initiatives.

Senate Cybersecurity Bill Sparks Concerns about Government Control — A comprehensive cybersecurity bill set for a vote in the Senate this week is drawing some late concern from the tech industry that could threaten several years of legislative work, reports The Hill. At least one IT firm is raising flags about the amount of control it gives the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over federal contractors whose security precautions are found lacking. Bob Dix, vice president of government affairs and critical infrastructure protection at Juniper Networks, said the bill's language suggests DHS could seize control of systems owned by private firms and cloud providers.

As Chief Technology Officer Leaves White House, Industry Looks for Signals — Aneesh Chopra, chief technology officer of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, stepped down on Friday, says National Journal. With Chopra’s departure, the tech industry will be watching intently for the signal Obama sends when he fills the position.  The industry hopes to continue to engage with the CTO on public-private initiatives.

Tech Industry Hopes for More Certainty in 2012 — A year after President Obama called for the United States to "out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build" the rest of the world in his 2011 State of the Union speech, the tech industry sees more to be done to get the economy back on track, says Nextgov. On the top of many companies' lists are issues like research and development tax credits, competitive tax reform, cloud computing, cybersecurity, spectrum, privacy, and intellectual property and copyright protection.