Bobby Kilberg is the president of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, a trade membership association for the technology companies in Northern Virginia, which is one of the biggest tech hubs in the world.
NVTC just formed a task force on green technology and energy. Why are environmental issues important to tech companies?
They are users of energy, and they understand that an important part of having sufficient energy in the future is to conserve and manage that energy better. It is essential for the maintenance and growth of their businesses. It’s also very important to the health of the region and of the regions they live in, and it is important as they recruit and retain employees. Employees care about this.
Are clients demanding that companies be more environmentally friendly?
I think that is clear. People are asking those questions. Clients or customers are looking for businesses to be green, and that is all positive when it makes good economic sense and it also serves the community.
Was AOL’s decision to move its corporate headquarters to New York from Northern Virginia a blow to the technology community here?
AOL continues to be here — it has 3,100 employees in this region, and they continue to be very active with us and with the business community. We have in Northern Virginia an extraordinarily broad technology industry, and it continues to grow and mature, and it does not depend on any one company. My expectation is that AOL will continue to be here and contribute, and our industry will continue to grow.
Has the credit crunch that was brought on by the housing market crash affected the technology industry?
Federal procurement of software and IT services will continue at a steady pace, but what you’re going to see is that private-sector companies, their [chief information officers] and [chief technical officers] are becoming cautious about making moves that they don’t need to make or that they can wait on.
