CompTIA Welcomes Roger Cochetti as New Director of U.S. Public Policy; Industry Veteran to Grow U.S. Policy Outreach on Behalf of Diverse Members, Industry.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) announced today that IT industry veteran Roger Cochetti has joined the association to direct its U.S. public policy office. Cochetti will direct CompTIA's federal and state advocacy programs in order to deliver optimal value to CompTIA's diverse membership.

Over the past three years, CompTIA's public policy offices have grown in size and in location, bucking industry downsizing trends. With Cochetti's arrival, CompTIA's U.S. public policy office - based in the Washington, DC metro area - now has 11 employees. CompTIA's other public policy offices are in Brussels, Belgium; Ottawa, Canada; Hong Kong, China; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Each office addresses the full array of issues confronting today's IT industry, representing the interests of CompTIA's thousands of company members before legislatures, policymakers, courts, and the media.

"The variety and complexity of issues facing the IT industry has grown exponentially these past few years," noted Bob Kramer, CompTIA vice president of global public policy. "We could have no one better than Roger to chart our flagship office's path and direct those opportunities. He's a seasoned coach, mentor and businessman who will take our federal and state advocacy efforts to the next level."

Headquartered just outside of Chicago, 22-year-old CompTIA is the world's largest provider of vendor-neutral IT skills certifications. CompTIA also works to develop industry consensus on such issues as the IT workforce, assorted technological standards, industry best practices, and public policy positions, among other things, across the globe.

"I've been impressed with CompTIA for some time," noted Cochetti. "Its experienced staff, broad access to member resources, and overall staying power have enabled CompTIA to uniquely differentiate itself from the pack. For me, this is where the action is and where we can affect positive policy change for the IT industry."

Cochetti will help craft a strategic public policy agenda to meet the evolving demands of CompTIA's diverse membership - a membership that reflects virtually every level of the IT value chain. Core areas of focus will be IT workforce development, cyber security, small business tax matters, expansion and harmonization of strong intellectual property protections, eCommerce, and government procurement policies.

Cochetti has more than 20 years of public policy experience in the IT field, managing related efforts of COMSAT, IBM and Verisign at various times over that period. He has also has helped found and serve on the board of directors of several IT-related organizations, including TRUSTe, the Internet Law and Policy Forum (ILPF), the Internet Education Foundation, the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA), the ICANN Names Council, and the Executives group of the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), to name but a few.

Said Cochetti, "I'm excited and honored to be part of a team that has positioned itself as a leader, helping our industry grow through focused, strategic and value-added U.S. public policy initiatives."

CompTIA

CompTIA is a global trade association representing the business interests of the information technology industry. For 22 years, CompTIA has provided research, networking and partnering opportunities to its more than 20,000 members in 102 countries. The association is involved in developing standards and best practices, and influencing the political, economic and educational arenas that impact IT worldwide. More information is available at www.comptia.org.