New TechNet CEO: Expanding access to tech is priority

IDG News Service - Rey Ramsey, the new president and CEO of IT lobbying group TechNet, said he's not a person who'll take the group in a traditional direction.

TechNet is a nonpartisan lobbying group made up of senior executives of more than 80 tech vendors, including Cisco Systems, Dell, Google, Microsoft and Oracle. Ramsey has a wide range of experience, but his last job, as co-founder and CEO of nonprofit One Economy, often involved pushing tech vendors and government agencies to provide services to minorities and low-income areas.

Ramsey said he wants TechNet to become a group that proactively recommends polices that the U.S. government can take to spur innovation. And pushing out technology to low-income areas will continue to be a major goal in his new role.

IDG News Service recently interviewed Ramsey. Here is an edited transcript.

What made you want to get involved with TechNet?

I am now a convert, a zealot, when it comes to technology. I believe it is one of the greatest instruments when it comes to raising the standard of living for people, for improving our economy, helping in education and a host of areas. It's very similar in what I was trying to do at One Economy -- using technology as an instrument to improve lives.

Now, I'm just doing it from the vantage point of the private sector, but I intend to build bridges to the other sectors, to nongovernmental agencies and to government. The expression I use is that we really want to bring private innovation together with social innovation to produce positive change. That's what I talk about first.

When you talk to someone and they say the Internet is how I got my job, or it's how I got my Cisco certification, you see the power of it.

You've focused on bringing broadband and technology to low-income communities at One Economy. How do the members of TechNet see how that benefits them?

You're creating more customers. If you can bring those products to more people, you're creating more consumers. And, oh by the way, you can also help people improve their standard of living and quality of life. You have what I refer to as a convergence of interests.

It seems that some tech companies have not thought a lot about minorities, or about lower-income people, because they didn't see those as a huge market for them.

I think there are often perceptions that companies have, but over time they change. You look at cable television, those companies got it. The take rate for cable is pretty high if you go into public housing. Look at the explosion of cell phones. Early on, cell phones were for the fancy people. Now, we have a billion and a half cell phones around the world. I think those lines are quickly blurring.