Why San Antonio needs to hire a tech czar

If President Barack Obama can hire a cyber czar, couldn't our new mayor appoint a special tech envoy?

I was sitting at lunch with my friend, Weston Martinez, another tech advocate, at Jim's Restaurant. Weston, an AT&T executive, and I were discussing some possible tech programs when the subject of technology advocacy came up.

If you have read this blog, you know that I have questioned some of the executive leadership for technology promotion in this city. And, I am not going to rehash that topic now.

However, our city has two organizations -- BioMed and SATAI. Both have a mission of promoting technology within San Antonio.

Yet, I am wondering, like my friend, Weston, why haven't these two organizations cross pollinated their efforts. It has taken outside groups to push the emerging medical technology to meet with the IT types like Rackspace. For example, the last Innotech San Antonio trade show featured a great panel on the emerging technology of San Antonio.

My friend, David Jemeyson, the chief executive of xGates, suggested to the San Antonio Innotech board that they have a program on medical innovations. With the help of Gabi Niederauer, a senior executive at Intrigue, an excellent panel on emerging medical technology was held at this event.
Buoyed by the success of this event, there are plans to expand the program for next year.

So, Weston and I both agree that our new mayor needs his own tech czar who can oversee both organizations and become the Gregor Mendel of our technology efforts. To me, it's sad that we have two excellent tech based industries who are not talking to each other. Here's hoping that our new mayor will find someone who can help advise him on how to cross pollinate our two technology bases.