More tech executives join Obama transition team
President-elect Barack Obama is enlisting more veterans of the tech industry to help his transition team evaluate federal agencies.
More members of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team were named Wednesday, including some veterans of the technology and communications sectors.
The transition team announced its agency review teams Wednesday, groups of advisers who will review key federal departments, agencies, and commissions, as well as the White House, to aide Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, and key advisers in their policy, personnel, and budget decisions.
"The Teams will ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in," according to Change.gov.
Michael Warren, currently on partial leave from his role as chief operating officer of Stonebridge International, is a leader of the Treasury Department agency review team. He is also part of the working group overseeing international trade and economics agencies. Warren previously served as president of Appfluent Technologies, a data usage and query performance software provider. He is also chairman of Ironbridge Systems, which provides analytics and technical support services. Warren also worked for McKinsey & Company as a tech industry consultant, and consulted on the U.S. and Asian semiconductor industries for the McKinsey Global Institute.
Louisa Terrell, who is on leave from her position as a senior director at Yahoo's Washington public policy office, is a working group member of the transition group's agency review team. Terrell was previously deputy chief of staff for Biden and served as counsel for Biden on his Senate Judiciary Committee staff.
Tom Wheeler--in a leave of absence from Core Capital Partners, a venture capital firm working with early stage technology companies--is a member of the agency review working group responsible for the science, technology, space, and arts agencies. Wheeler was previously CEO of the National Cable Television Association, as well as the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association.
Donald Gips, on leave from his position as group vice president of global corporate development at Level 3 Communications, is a co-chair of the agency review working group. Gips had been named as an original member of Obama's transition team. He previously served as chief domestic policy adviser to Vice President Al Gore and was chief of the international bureau at the Federal Communications Commission.
Reed Hundt, who served as an adviser to Obama during the campaign, is a member of the agency review working group responsible for the international trade and economics agencies. He served as the chairman of the FCC from 1993 to 1997.
John Wilkins, who is on partial leave from McKinsey & Company, is a member of the agency review working group and worked for the FCC from 1998 to 1999.