Tech Execs Unveil 'Green' Tech Initiative

TechNet, a bipartisan political network of CEOs that promotes the growth of the innovation economy, today held its third annual TechNet Innovation Summit at Stanford University, bringing together top business leaders to discuss the state of innovation and the public policies needed to sustain U.S. competitiveness in the global economy.

The event, moderated by television journalist Charlie Rose, coincides with the announcement of TechNet's new Green Technologies Initiative which will push for a heightened U.S. commitment to adopt innovative green technologies to fortify national security and address global energy and environmental challenges.

Today, the technology industry is creating new alternative and renewable energy technologies including advances in solar, wind, biofuel and fuel cell technologies, as well as developing technology solutions that drive energy efficiency, environmental protection and economic competitiveness. These groundbreaking innovations hold the potential to be the next great disruptive technologies.

The TechNet Innovation Summit featured Bill Gates, chairman, Microsoft; Scott McNealy, chairman, Sun Microsystems; Reed Hastings, founder, chairman and CEO, Netflix; Jerry Yang, founder and chief Yahoo, Yahoo! Inc.; John Doerr, partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; Brian Halla, chairman and CEO, National Semiconductor, KR Sridhar, co-founder and CEO, Bloom Energy and Charles Giancarlo, senior vice president and chief development officer, Cisco Systems and president, Cisco-Linksys, LLC.

"The TechNet Innovation Summit is the premier national event that brings together the technology industry's luminaries to discuss the future of American innovation," says Lezlee Westine, president and CEO of TechNet. "We are pleased to announce our new Green Technologies Initiative, which we hope will drive a national commitment to the development and adoption of innovative energy technologies as a key part of the solution to national security, economic competitiveness and global environmental challenges. This call to action will utilize the best minds in the technology industries sector to develop policies and initiatives that spur the development and adoption of new technologies to enhance energy efficiency, encourage use of renewable energy and protect the environment."

The TechNet Green Technologies Initiative will be led by a select group of TechNet CEOs and senior executives.

"The TechNet Green Tech Initiative will provide a roadmap for government and industry to put these technologies to use in solving our serious environmental and energy challenges," says Doerr, TechNet founder. "We have just a few years to get this right and it is the power of innovation that will lead the way in combating this crisis."