Matthew L Evans Posts

In view of the significant relationship between IT, innovation and the retention of highly skilled workers in the United States, CompTIA was invited to attend a Community Leader Briefing on Immigration Reform last week at the White House.While the event carried heightened attention on the heels of the Obama Administration decision to temporarily suspend deportations of certain qualified young people, our attention was squarely on the issue of retaining highly skilled workers who have obtained a ...

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to represent CompTIA at the North Carolina Technology Association’s Annual “State of Technology,” a statewide conference on tech trends and innovation by North Carolina companies and organizations, all with a focus on data storage and security.Congresswoman Ellmers (center) with Brooks Raiford, CEO of NCTA (left) and Matthew Evans of CompTIA (right)In a post conference session, CompTIA partnered with the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) to pr ...

As we look to continue to find ways to keep members informed about and engaged in the advocacy process, we recently formed a member-based group called the CompTIA Public Advocacy Liaisons (PALS).  CompTIA members who serve as liaisons will act as a bridge between the CompTIA staff in Washington, D.C., and CompTIA members across the country. The goal is to keep the channels of communication open as we all advocate on behalf of the industry.In their first conference call of the year, PALS discusse ...

TechVoice, a grass roots partnership among CompTIA, TECNA and other interested organizations, continues to grow.  We now have ten organizations that are a part of the TechVoice community and we hope to add more in the New Year.In a sign of the importance of public policy to our TechVoice partners, recently, Donn Morrill, executive director of the New York Technology Council (NYTC), invited CompTIA staff to present to the executive board of the Council.  On December 12th, I traveled to New York C ...

Earlier this month, more than 30 CompTIA members and partners gathered in Washington, D.C. for the CompTIA D.C. Fly-In. This event gave participants the opportunity to see how Washington works first hand, learning more about CompTIA policy priorities and how they relate to their business, and then taking their questions and concerns to the Capitol Hill offices of senators and representatives from around the country.Participants, like CompTIA Board Member Linda Lynch, appreciated the opportunity ...

One of the qualities that make the American political system unique is the access citizens have to their elected officials. James Madison himself set out the right to petition our government within the first amendment to our Constitution.  From town hall meetings to office visits, Americans have long seized the opportunity to speak their minds to those they elect to office. While the current political climate sometimes brings into question the value of one person’s voice, we at CompTIA believe t ...

During this year’s Breakaway Conference in Washington, D.C., we saw a large number of participants take place in the first ever CompTIA Tech Summit. These members heard from expert panels regarding healthcare IT and cybersecurity. The Summit provided members with critical insight into the future of the industry and how what happens in Congress affects it all.With that in mind, we also saw dozens of members stop by the CompTIA public advocacy booth during the trade show portion of the conference ...

Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once said, “The essential ingredient of politics is timing.”  While he certainly has a point, we also believe it is a matter of time … how much time you have to get your message across. Elected officials make decisions every day, many of which directly affect your business.  Remembering a constituent’s face and the message that they sharply delivered can make the difference in how they cast their votes or develop policy.We would like to invite you to come t ...

From time to time, we give focus to our CompTIA members’ activities or views in relation to specific policy matters. In May we shared with you developments surrounding patent reform legislation in the U.S. Congress. Below is an opinion piece by CompTIA Member Kevin McDonald of Alvaka.I’ve noticed a lot of gratuitous talk by our legislators about being all for small business and protecting the individual. They bandy about rhetoric about the Constitution and consistently are finding rights that a ...

A student from Brazil comes into America on a visa, looking for a quality education. The student ends up gaining admission into one of the nation’s best schools for Science and Technology, graduates with honors and then…heads back home to Brazil.Do you see anything wrong with that picture? Some members of Congress seem to and have introduced legislation aimed at keeping foreign-born students in America after graduation.  The goal is to have them use their newly acquired skills to boost the Ameri ...