Tech lobbyists in merger talks
By John Lister
Two leading lobbying groups for the technology industry are in talks about merging. The resulting body would likely fill a long-standing void as the major voice for the industry in the US.
The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) currently represents 90% of firms in the IT industry, including such giants as Adobe, HP, Microsoft and Verizon. The rival American Electronics Association, which prefers to be known as AeA has a reported 2,500 members which employ around 1.8 million workers.
Phillip J Bond, the ITAA president, once said “When it comes to lobbying, everyone else is Snow White and we’re the Seven Dwarfs.” He now tells the Los Angeles Times that a merger with AeA would take “two or three steps toward being Snow White”.
At the moment there isn’t a dominant trade group for the industry, which makes it much more difficult to present a unified and authoritative argument to politicians and regulators. Those in the industry say this has slowed efforts to get tech-friendly policies such as bringing back tax credits for research and development and increasing the number of visas available for foreign workers with technology expertise.
A combined AeA and ITAA would still be far from the only organisation speaking on behalf of the industry, but it would be strong enough that it would be the clear leader.
Both groups have had their share of controversy with policies opposed by consumer representatives. The ITAA has lobbied in favour of funding for the Real ID Act, which would standardise and share state records of driving licenses. Naturally that would be a great source of business for ITAA members.
Meanwhile AeA has argued against proposed laws to block Californian employers from forcing employees to have an RFID tracking chip implanted in their skin. Pointing out that the technology has been in operation for more than 50 years (which is hardly the same as having it implanted), it argued that “Our bottom line is we’re opposed to anything that demonizes RFIDs.”
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