根据此最新消息，目前已有两名美国前军界高官任职北电：
BREAKING NEWS
POSTED AT 8:07 AM EDT Wednesday, Jun 9, 2004
Another kind of networking
CEO's military background may help win U.S. deals
By PAUL WALDIE AND DAVE EBNER
Globe and Mail Update
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Bill Owens, chief executive officer of Nortel Networks Corp., plans to put his military background to use in helping Nortel win some U.S. defence contracts.
''I do come from a lot of close exposure to the U.S. government and the U.S. military,'' said Mr. Owens, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who was named Nortel's chief executive officer in April.
The U.S. military and government are "a very good market for us."
Nortel recently hired another retired U.S. Navy admiral, Chuck Saffell, as president of its Federal Solutions Team.
Mr. Saffell is based in Washington and he "will lead efforts to provide robust, secure networking technology solutions to U.S. defence, homeland security, intelligence, and civil agencies globally," the company said.
"Nortel Networks now has the benefit of two senior leaders with extensive knowledge of the current and envisioned networks of federal agencies."
There have also been reports that Nortel won part of a contract to help rebuild a portion of the phone system in Iraq along with Bechtel Group Inc. Those contracts have been tightly controlled by the U.S. government through the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Tina Warren, a Nortel spokeswoman, would not confirm the Iraq contract but she said the company has "had lots of inquiries concerning telecommunications projects for building and rebuilding Iraq."
Mr. Owens had a 34-year career in the military, including a stint as vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Bill Clinton.
Much of Mr. Owens's military career involved carrying out a massive restructuring of the Navy with an emphasis on new technology.
Until recently, he also served on the controversial Defence Policy Board, a government-appointed group that advises the U.S. military.
Richard Perle, a key adviser to the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, resigned as chairman of the board last year amid allegations he used his position on the board to boost his business interests.
In an interview this week, Mr. Owens said the U.S. military and the U.S. government represent a huge potential market for Nortel.
"That's a great opportunity for us," he said.
"We understand the engineering of complex communications, knowledge-based systems. There are billions and billions of dollars in that market place, and one could image that there are many of those projects that we could compete on by ourselves.
"So it's much more than just selling some devices or some smaller services, but perhaps eventually being focused on the greater marketplace that is resident there, and that market is very large as you know from the size of the U.S. defence budget and the U.S. government budget."
Nortel has significant contracts with governments around the world, he added, but the company can do more to tap into the giant U.S. market.
He added that "as you know, governments move slowly in terms of procurements but this is a great opportunity for us and we intend to try to take maximum advantage of it because it's good for the government and it's good for Nortel."
BREAKING NEWS
POSTED AT 8:07 AM EDT Wednesday, Jun 9, 2004
Another kind of networking
CEO's military background may help win U.S. deals
By PAUL WALDIE AND DAVE EBNER
Globe and Mail Update
Related Stories
Former U.S. Navy admiral takes helm of stricken ship
Cleghorn led boardroom charge to clean up Nortel
Bill Owens, chief executive officer of Nortel Networks Corp., plans to put his military background to use in helping Nortel win some U.S. defence contracts.
''I do come from a lot of close exposure to the U.S. government and the U.S. military,'' said Mr. Owens, a retired U.S. Navy admiral who was named Nortel's chief executive officer in April.
The U.S. military and government are "a very good market for us."
Nortel recently hired another retired U.S. Navy admiral, Chuck Saffell, as president of its Federal Solutions Team.
Mr. Saffell is based in Washington and he "will lead efforts to provide robust, secure networking technology solutions to U.S. defence, homeland security, intelligence, and civil agencies globally," the company said.
"Nortel Networks now has the benefit of two senior leaders with extensive knowledge of the current and envisioned networks of federal agencies."
There have also been reports that Nortel won part of a contract to help rebuild a portion of the phone system in Iraq along with Bechtel Group Inc. Those contracts have been tightly controlled by the U.S. government through the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Tina Warren, a Nortel spokeswoman, would not confirm the Iraq contract but she said the company has "had lots of inquiries concerning telecommunications projects for building and rebuilding Iraq."
Mr. Owens had a 34-year career in the military, including a stint as vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Bill Clinton.
Much of Mr. Owens's military career involved carrying out a massive restructuring of the Navy with an emphasis on new technology.
Until recently, he also served on the controversial Defence Policy Board, a government-appointed group that advises the U.S. military.
Richard Perle, a key adviser to the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, resigned as chairman of the board last year amid allegations he used his position on the board to boost his business interests.
In an interview this week, Mr. Owens said the U.S. military and the U.S. government represent a huge potential market for Nortel.
"That's a great opportunity for us," he said.
"We understand the engineering of complex communications, knowledge-based systems. There are billions and billions of dollars in that market place, and one could image that there are many of those projects that we could compete on by ourselves.
"So it's much more than just selling some devices or some smaller services, but perhaps eventually being focused on the greater marketplace that is resident there, and that market is very large as you know from the size of the U.S. defence budget and the U.S. government budget."
Nortel has significant contracts with governments around the world, he added, but the company can do more to tap into the giant U.S. market.
He added that "as you know, governments move slowly in terms of procurements but this is a great opportunity for us and we intend to try to take maximum advantage of it because it's good for the government and it's good for Nortel."
