There is little love between IT leaders and President-elect Donald Trump. But Washington and Silicon Valley must co-exist. Everybody knows this. So IT leaders attend Trump’s tech summit. Hence, the summit takes place Wednesday in New York City.
Those attending will include Google/Alphabet CEO Larry Page, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Also attending will be Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty. In addition to all this, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will be attending. We don’t know about Elon Musk’s attendance. But these IT leaders see this as an opportunity. Furthermore, IT leaders expect a lot from President-elect Trump. They want tax reform. They also want America’s IT tech industry to be the most competitive. So do I. We all should.
Of course, there will be awkward moments. Bezos was vehemently anti-Trump. His Washington Post attacked Trump on many subject. Let’s not forget ?the conflict between Trump and Apple. This started over a phone allegedly used by one of the San Bernadino shooters. Trump believed Apple should give the phone info to the Feds. Apple doesn’t fell that way. Next month, Donald Trump becomes our US President. What will happen then. And what about Peter Thiel, who was a die hard Trump supporter?
There’s a lot of hostility toward him right now. As a result, Thiel may not attend. But don’t you think there’s going to be a lot of hostility anyway? Let’s face it. Most people in this meeting supported Trump’s rival, Hilary Rodham Clinton. Hopefully, they can put that behind and do what’s best for the country. What does this meeting have to do with IT? Lots. I can’t stress this enough how powerful our industry is in this nation. Furthermore, Washington and Silicon Valley need each other. They many not like each other, but they need to work together and respect each other. Maybe this meeting will heal wounds. We can only hope so. What do you think will become of this Wednesday summit?