NEWS: Top US IT body against bar on non-citizens

[Frederick Noronha <fred@bytesforall.org>]

Top U.S. IT body against bar on non-citizens

By Ela Dutt, Indo-Asian News Service

Washington, Mar 20 (IANS) A top American IT body has expressed concern over
the U.S. Defence Department's bar on non-citizens working on sensitive but
unclassified IT projects.

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) said non-citizens
had made invaluable contributions to U.S. military technologies and most
leaks had occurred from citizens rather than non-citizens.

In a letter to the Defence Department's division on Acquisition, Technology
and Logistics, ITAA president Harris Miller said the costs and benefits of
such a policy should be examined thoroughly and publicly.

"This proposal would be a significant expansion of current restrictions,"
Miller says in his letter addressed to the Under Secretary of Defence Edward
Aldridge.

The implications could be substantial, said Miller who head a body that
consists of more than 500 corporate members throughout the U.S.

"America's defence readiness depends on having ready access to the best
available technology and technical skill sets. Precipitous action here could
make it much more difficult and expensive for the military services to
acquire the requisite IT services," Miller warned.

There has not been public discussion of the risks posed by non-citizens or
the potential consequences of implementing such a change, he points out.

"Overly restrictive personnel policies could undermine the nation's
long-term security," Miller adds. "And as President Bush has constantly
reminded the nation since the tragic events of September 11, we as a country
should not become xenophobic because of those terrorists who attacked New
York City and the Pentagon," he added.

Public policy must be based on real world actions and tangible threats --
not supposition and innuendo, Miller asserted. "Non-citizens have repeatedly
played a critical role in developing and refining U.S. military
technologies."

During the 1990s, citizens perpetrated several of the most damaging
intelligence leaks in U.S. history, the letter maintains.

He urged the Department of Defence and other military services "to conduct a
full and public assessment of the advantages and risks posed by the current
policy and alternative methods to address any concerns."

For this he offered the services of ITAA and a global network of 47
countries' IT associations. The association had been at the forefront of
issues of IT industry concern including information security, taxes and
finance policy, digital intellectual property protection, telecommunications
competition, workforce and education, immigration, online privacy and
consumer protection, government IT procurement, human resources and
e-commerce policy.

The U.S. is the world leader in information and communications technology
(ICT) products and services, representing almost 35 percent of global
spending. U.S. spending on ICT has increased almost 70 percent since 1992,
to almost $762 billion in 1999.

The U.S. is also one of the world's largest per capita ICT spending nations.
Approximately 10.4 million people earn their living performing IT jobs, 85
percent of who work for small companies, according to ITAA.

--Indo-Asian News Service