Major Tech Trade Groups to Combine

Two technology industry groups said on Tuesday they will combine to amplify the call for better Internet security.

The Information Technology Association of America, one of the top tech trade associations, will combine with the smaller Cyber Security Industry Alliance, whose 14 members are primarily CEOs of major computer security companies.

ITAA announced the combination just a week after it formally merged with another tech trade group Government Electronics and Information Technology Association.

Following the mergers, ITAA will have more than 350 members with combined membership revenue of roughly $8.5 million.

The groups have some overlapping agendas, but are largely complementary. ITAA, formed in 1961, works on broader policy issues, such as security, trade and labor. Since its inception four years ago, CSIA has focused primarily on security matters. GEIA, founded in 1952, concentrated on technical standards and government technology market analysis.

Phil Bond, ITAA's president and chief executive, said negotiations with the CSIA started a few months ago and expects the groups will combine within a matter of days. They share some common members, including CA Inc., Symantec Corp. and International Business Machines Corp.

CSIA last year focused on legislation to curb data breaches and identity theft, improve privacy and bolster security for federal computer systems and critical infrastructures in the United States and Europe. The group has an office in Brussels, Belgium, which will be retained by ITAA.

ITAA's mergers could signal further consolidation within the tech industry, which is represented by several major trade groups, such as the Information Technology Industry Council, the Consumer Electronics Association, the Business Software Alliance. Other industries, such as oil and pharmaceutical, are considered more effective in influencing the government because they have one or two prominent associations and bigger budgets.

For example, ITAA spent $240,000 to lobby the government last year, while CSIA spent $325,000 in 2007. By comparison, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spent more than $22 million lobbying last year.

Bond, a former executive at Monster Worldwide Inc. who also served as under secretary for technology at the Commerce Department, said technology companies see the same need for a united voice.

"More consolidation should and will happen," he said.