Sen. Bennett calls IT essential to recovery and victory

The low-tech nature of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks should not distract the nation from the need to secure the IT infrastructure, Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah) said today.“It is still vitally important that we pay attention to how vulnerable we are in the information age,” Bennett said at a Capitol Hill meeting sponsored by the Business Software Alliance.Bennett, an outspoken proponent of government IT use, said the war against terrorism as outlined last night by President Bush in a speech before a joint session of Congress will rely on more than military might.“It will be fought on the Internet and by diplomatic and economic means every bit as much as with F-16s,” he said.Bennett said the speech aroused the most emotion in his congressional career but was a serious policy message as well, describing the state of the world in the post-Cold War era.Last week’s attacks have plunged the nation’s economy into recession, he said, and “our ability to leverage the Net will be essential to recovery.”