HP chief: Close industry/government gap

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s chief executive officer Tuesday signaled her company's intent to forge a new dynamic between government and the IT industry.

Carly Fiorina compared the changes taking shape in society as a result of the Internet to a second Renaissance. The challenge of the digital Renaissance, she said, will be to "close the gap between the government sector and business."

"Fifty and even 25 years ago, people were defined by their geographic boundaries," Fiorina said. No longer is that true — a fact that will force industry and government to revamp the way they interact with one another.

The issues swirling around Internet privacy may well prove the first stage on which to test a new relationship between government and businesses, she added.

Using the digital Renaissance's sweeping change as a backdrop, Fiorina drove home the company's decision to get in front of a move by some technology companies to embrace the idea of new federal privacy legislation.

"The role of legislation that contains a minimum set of requirements that serve to establish the right boundaries would then set the people free. It would create a way to recognize the fact that a consumer's [personal] information is theirs," Fiorina said, speaking at a technology conference sponsored by the Progress and Freedom Foundation, in Aspen, Colo.

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