CEOs Push US Technology

A coalition of high-tech chief execs, including Joseph M. Tucci, president and CEO of EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), published a report this week to promote their agenda for improving U.S. presence in world technology.

Members of Computer Systems Policy Project call the report their first effort to discuss their vision of maintaining a U.S. lead in technology with Congress and the Bush administration. On their agenda is increased domestic funding for science and math education, the elimination of regulatory barriers to broadband networking, and more state-funded R&D.

"The economic and competitive challenges that U.S. industry and American workers face are real," said Tucci in a prepared statement. "The United States must be proactive on innovation, investment and improving education for American workers in order for U.S. companies to compete successfully in today's global marketplace."

Tucci is also a member of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, an executive group that promotes public policy initiatives, including improved technology education.

Tucci and the other CEOs are not saying companies should back off from hiring foreign workers or moving assignments offshore as they see fit. Indeed, EMC continues to roll out centers for marketing, sales, and R&D worldwide, including in India (see EMC to Invest $100M in India), where a growing number of U.S. IT workers complain their jobs are being sent."We have operations both in and outside of the U.S., though the majority is in the U.S.," says EMC spokesman Greg Eden. He maintains that 60 percent of IT spending occurs outside the U.S. borders, making it highly likely EMC will continue to invest overseas as well as domestically.

Other CEOs with CSPP concur with this view, including Craig Barrett of Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), who chairs the group; Michael S. Dell of Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: DELL); Carly Fiorina, CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ); Samuel Palmisano of IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM); Mark Hurd of NCR Corp.; and Lawrence Weinbach of Unisys Corp. (NYSE: UIS). They say hiring workers worldwide can boost the position of U.S. technology companies and help them stay competitive and in the black.

Carly Fiorina, for instance, stated in a news conference on Wednesday that no tech job is "a God-given right" for Americans, who must compete for them with other nations that also have skilled workers.

Others don't agree. Members of TechsUnite, affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, for instance, is seeking to unify a range of groups representing IT workers angered by companies cutting pensions and benefits and sending jobs overseas to avoid paying higher salaries at home.

While the argument over the increasingly international nature of IT continues to build, members of CSPP intend to stick to their plan to lobby government. Next month, they'll meet in Washington, D.C., with members of Congress and administration officials. EMC's Tucci plans to attend.

Figure 1: Joseph Tucci, president and CEO, EMC Corp.

Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch