COMMUNICATIONS DAILY8 TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2014

Virtually all lobbyists and observers warned its difficult to anticipate exactly what shape the Hill reaction
will take. Some declined comment for precisely that reason. But expect the reaction to be strong, many assured
us, and likely with impacts lasting well beyond this year. John Hendel (jhendel@warren-news.com)


TechAmerica Struggled Financially

CompTIA Acquires TechAmerica to Expand State, International Efforts, Says CEO

CompTIA acquired TechAmerica, the information technology trade groups said in Monday news
releases. CompTIA will continue to use the TechAmerica name for certain advocacy efforts and is to ab-
sorb 24 TechAmerica staffers all the core staff that are delivering all the programs theyre currently
doing, said CompTIA CEO Todd Thibodeaux, who will retain his position, in an interview. Te-
chAmerica CEO Shawn Osborne will help with the coming transition, but will not take on a new role with
CompTIA, Thibodeaux said. The CompTIA board will fill its last vacant slot with a to-be-determined
member of the TechAmerica board, Thibodeaux said.

The acquisition gives us a chance to broaden our scope, Thibodeaux said. CompTIA will expand
its efforts in three main areas state lobbying, government procurement and international activities
using TechAmericas expertise, he told us. We have represented mostly small and medium companies in
the IT channel, he said. By adding in what we feel is a non-overlapping, non-duplicative set of mem-
bers and set of programs, it allows us to really be a full representative for the IT industry.

IRS filings show TechAmericas spending outpaced its revenue between 2009 and 2011, the last
year for which documents were available from the GuideStar database of Form 990s. Last year saw multi-
ple reports of employees leaving the company, and documents obtained by the Huffington Post in October
revealed at least 75 members had withdrawn from the group since J uly (http://huff.to/1kFPFlc). Any
time organizations today are dependent entirely on dues, its a challenging environment, Thibodeaux
said. TechAmerica did not comment.

In November, four TechAmerica lobbyists quit en masse to work for the rival group Information
Technology Industry Council (ITI) (CD Nov 6 p15), leading to TechAmerica filing a poaching lawsuit,
which was settled confidentially Friday, said statements from Osborne (http://bit.ly/1pXVD8a) and ITI
CEO Dean Garfield (http://bit.ly/SiiSLq). The suit had nothing to do with TechAmericas decision to
reach agreement with CompTIA, said Thibodeaux. The two sides hashed out the bulk of the agreement
over the past two months, he added. Well open cooperation with ITI and welcome it with open arms.

CompTIAs main revenue base is its information technology certification program, not member-
ship dues, providing a stable source of funding for TechAmericas programs, Thibodeaux said. The deal
was more an opportunity for them to see the programs they had developed and put in place have a more
definite, certain future, he said.

CompTIA has spread its lobbying base, according to lobbying disclosure forms. Its Q1 year-over-
year lobbying spending rose between $20,000 and $90,000 each year since a 2010 Q1 low of $20,000,
reaching $200,000 in 2014. The groups Q1 2014 form (http://1.usa.gov/1kPSK3P) also lists dozens of
issues, some of which including net neutrality did not appear in the Q1 2013 form.
TUESDAY, MAY 6, 2014 COMMUNICATIONS DAILY9

Two federal procurement bills also appear on the most recent disclosure form that dovetail with
issues that TechAmericas acquisition will help with, Thibodeaux told us. The Federal Information
Technology Savings, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2013 (S-1843), and its companion Fed-
eral Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (HR-1232), would give agency chief informa-
tion officers more authority over IT procurement. We havent been heavily involved in government
procurement and public sector issues other than workforce-related things relative to our own sales of
IT certifications, Thibodeaux said. CompTIA is hoping to change that with its TechAmerica acquisi-
tion, he said.

At the state level, CompTIAs alliance of state and regional technology associations will now
move forward under the TechAmerica banner, Thibodeaux said. Previously, it was called TechVoice.
Tax issues and differing data privacy regulations are central issues CompTIA will weigh in on, he said.
Privacy issues and differences across those [state] divides are important to understand and simplify, he
said. Lobbying forms from recent quarters also show CompTIA works on the Marketplace Fairness Act
(S-743/HR-684), which would authorize state governments to collect sales taxes from retailers with no
physical presence in the state, such as e-tailers.

TechAmericas international footprint the organization has offices in Brussels will let
CompTIA enter the worldwide debate, according to Thibodeaux. He said CompTIA will become
more involved in the cross-border data flow conversations and related trade negotiations. Europe also
leads the global conversation on workforce issues, he said. We want to get back involved in Brussels
in helping to define some of the things around IT workforce in the European space, said Thibodeaux.
The rest of the world takes a lot of lead sometimes more lead from what happens in the EU
than they do from what happens in the U.S. on workforce in particular. So its important for us to be
involved there. Cory Bennett (cbennett@warren-news.com)


'Game Changer'

Advances Could Be Made in NG-911 This Year, Says FCC's Furth

The U.S. has an opportunity to truly advance the ball on next-generation 911 this year, said FCC
Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief David Furth at an APCO event Monday. NG-911 challenges remain,
including getting public safety answering points (PSAPs) still relying on legacy TDM systems to update
equipment, without jeopardizing their ability to continue doing their work under the present system, said
Furth. He said he had just met with Rhode Island legislators and realized many PSAPs in the state are re-
lying on 40-year-old equipment.

Wireless companies are moving ahead with making NG-911 available to PSAPs. Furth said. The
May 15 deadline by which AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless have committed to making
text-to-911 available (CD Dec 10/12 p1) will be a game changer, Furth said: It will provide the
momentum toward PSAPs taking steps to begin to be able to accept 911 texts. For the FCC, the volun-
tary steps taken this year will provide guidance on what kind of regulatory approach to take, he said. If
PSAPs move toward allowing texting to 911, the commission would see its role as providing regulatory
clarity and filling in gaps, Furth said.