ITAA and CSIA said the merger should make for a stronger lobbying effort on cybersecurity issues. With some members already in common, the merged groups follow on the heels of the April 1 merger of ITAA with the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association (GEIA).
That merger brought together nearly 400 technology companies to focus on public policy, business development, technology standards and market intelligence.
The addition of the CSIA companies increases ITAA membership to more than 350 companies with combined membership revenue of roughly $8.5 million. Final legal agreements are pending.
“We are delighted that CSIA chose to bring its important work to ITAA,” said ITAA president and chief executive Phil Bond. “The global reach of CSIA, with its Brussels office, will bring valuable new perspective and resources to ITAA’s own information security program and complement our work with the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA).”
CSIA Board of Directors, made up of CEOs of the member companies, will become an advisory board to the ITAA Commercial Sector Board and will work on guidance and strategic direction to the combined information security program. The CSIA looks to influence security policy in the US and the European Union.
The CSIA Brussels office will continue to focus exclusively on cyber security working with both the ITAA and WITSA.
Phil Dunkelberger, CEO of PGP and vice chairman of the CSIA, told Infosecurity that since the CSIA’s formation in 2004, the challenges associated with protecting information assets online have increasingly broadened to include not just security providers but the IT industry as a whole.
The amalgamation “gives us broader, deeper reach. It gives us a chance to consolidate our message within a much broader larger group.”
“The ITAA has preserved us almost exactly as we were only giving us a bigger place to talk about our vision alongside a number of other companies who are no longer on the fringe but are directly involved in the issues.”