A lack of racial diversity within technology companies could hurt their financial performance, Open MIC reported Wednesday. It said tech companies in the top 10 percent of racial and ethnic diversity are about two-thirds more likely to produce more revenue than those in the bottom 10 percent. "Similarly, companies that lack racial/ethnic diversity are about 20% more likely to fall short of median operating margins," said the nonprofit. “Given the growing social, political and economic influence of tech companies, the lack of diversity in the sector has implications that extend far beyond the industry itself,” said Executive Director Michael Connor in a news release. The report recommended tech companies measure their progress by collecting and disclosing data on race and gender, such as employees' functions, seniority, tenure, status, salary and other information. "Tech companies such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft have begun to disclose employee salaries, broken down by gender and sometimes but not always by race," the report said. Another recommendation is linking "time-bound goals" such as hiring and advancing women and minorities within organizations to leaders who are responsible for hitting those targets. Last year, Microsoft said it would tie executive bonuses to workforce diversity goals, and Pandora said it plans to increase percentage of U.S. employees of color to 45 percent by 2020, up from 35 percent, the report said. Open MIC said white executives, who hold a disproportionate power in tech companies, need to be fully committed to improving diversity and inclusion or those efforts will fall short.

CTA plans a New American Jobs Summit in the spring to probe “how emerging tech trends affect U.S. jobs and how government and the private sector can invest in a competitive workforce,” it announced Tuesday. The May 3 event at the Capitol Hill Hyatt Regency in Washington will gather policymakers, industry leaders and “key influencers” to examine what American jobs will look like in 10 years, “policy priorities that lead to job creation, trends affecting future American jobs and new policies for education and technical training,” CTA said.

Twitter said it's making changes aimed at stopping harassment and enhancing freedom of expression on the site, building on efforts started in November. A Tuesday blog post said Twitter will try to better identify and stop people who already have been permanently suspended from opening new accounts. It will provide safer search results that remove "potentially sensitive" tweets and those from blocked or muted accounts. "While this type of content will be discoverable if you want to find it, it won’t clutter search results any longer," the company said. Twitter will try to better identity and collapse potentially abusive and low-quality tweets so users can see more relevant conversations. It said such tweet replies will remain accessible to those who want to see them. Last week, the company said it gave a user the ability to report tweets that mention them even if an account has blocked that user.

Microsoft is asking Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to create a system to grant exceptions for specific foreign nationals to enter the U.S. while still protecting national security. In a Thursday letter to the cabinet officials, Brad Smith, the company's chief legal officer, said 76 Microsoft employees and their 41 dependents who live and work in the U.S. possess nonimmigrant visas and were affected by President Donald Trump's order last week that temporarily prevents entry of people from seven predominantly Muslim nations (see 1701300023). As a result, some parents outside the U.S. were separated from their children and one employee can't visit a critically ill parent abroad, said Smith, who also penned a blog post explaining the request. Smith outlined criteria that the government could follow to create case-by-case exceptions for people, who would be given a "Responsible Known Traveler with Pressing Needs" classification. "These individuals are 'known quantities' in their communities: their character, personalities, conduct, and behavior is understood by their colleagues, employers, friends, and neighbors" and they also fill critical roles in their organizations, Smith wrote in the post. Foreign students also should be considered within the exception process, he said. The departments of Homeland Security and State didn't comment. But Smith said the proposal shouldn't end the larger debate about the order. Recode Wednesday reported Microsoft is among several tech and other types of companies, including Alphabet/Google, Apple, Facebook and Uber, planning to send a joint letter to Trump opposing the travel ban.

Custom integrator buying group Azione Unlimited will mark its fifth anniversary in February with a roster of 176 dealer members. President Richard Glikes founded the organization with a goal of bringing on board 250 members by mid-2013. That number is still the goal, Glikes emailed us, but he tweaked it to cover “every primary, secondary, and tertiary [market] in the country. “Is the number 225, 250, 275? I’m not sure what the exact number is,” he said. “I’d like to add key dealers that admire Azione Unlimited from afar. There are a number of great dealers that aren’t on the right team.” Azione boasts 48 vendor members, combined purchase power of $564 million annually, rebates and discounts to dealers of more than $2.5 million, plus marketing tools, education and a “family atmosphere that fosters friendships and great business relationships.” On what he’s most proud of after five years, Glikes said: “We’ve built a team that truly enjoys one another and enjoys sharing and learning.” What surprises him the most is “how steady the growth has been” and the loyalty dealers have shown to the group. On where Azione needs to improve, Glikes said communication “is key” but is a bit “elusive” with vendors and dealers running their own businesses. He wants dealers to improve their processes “and bring assets to their marketing initiatives." Most integrators don’t advertise, he said. "This needs to change.”

The Telecommunications Industry Association, which has undergone major management changes since 2014, Wednesday announced the hiring of four industry veterans to senior positions. Cinnamon Rogers, formerly of Time Warner and Time Warner Cable, Discovery Communications and NCTA, is the new senior vice president-government affairs. James Reid had been doing that job, after he was hired in 2015 from Capitol Hill, where he worked for ex-Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. Reid left Tuesday, a TIA spokeswoman told us Wednesday. Another TIA senior vice president also hired around the same time as Reid, Patty Higginbotham, also left this week, the spokeswoman said. Higginbotham had been general counsel. In other personnel news at the group, Brenda Boehm, who has worked for a long list of companies, including Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco, is now chief strategy officer, TIA said in a news release. Susan Medick, who spent two decades as the top financial executive at the Auto Care Association, is now chief financial officer. Susan Schramm, formerly at Viavi Solutions, was named chief marketing officer and senior vice president-membership. In October 2014, TIA got a new CEO, Scott Belcher, the former CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (see 1410090071). Former TIA President Grant Seiffert subsequently left the association. Belcher also left at the end of 2016, replaced by interim CEO David Heard, TIA chairman. TIA is searching for a new permanent CEO (see 1611140021). “These four new executives bring proven leadership, diverse experience and fresh ideas to the TIA management team,” Heard said. “They have been in the trenches delivering results for business and government, and they understand how TIA can help drive revenue opportunities and get things done for our members.”

About 120 striking DirecTV technicians protested Wednesday​ in Sacramento after walking off the job Monday in response to the company firing one of their own, Communications Workers of America said. The terminated technician, Anthony Estrada, lost a piece of equipment that later was stolen, CWA said in a news release Tuesday. “Excusable errors like this rarely result in termination.” Tensions between AT&T and its California and Nevada union workers have been running high amid disagreements negotiating a new contract (see 1612190050). “A walkout is not in anybody’s best interest, and it’s unfortunate that the union chose to do that,” an AT&T spokesman emailed Wednesday. “We’re prepared to continue serving customers, and are engaged in discussion with the union to get these employees back to work.” When AT&T terminated the employee, the company followed employment laws and a union-supported disciplinary process, which includes taking into account an employee’s entire service record and not a single incident, the spokesman said. AT&T remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with CWA in the western region, he said. The company and CWA reached a tentative labor agreement Monday in separate negotiations covering about 500 former DirecTV employees in California and six other states, AT&T said in a news release.

NAB will present formal proposals to the FCC on increasing digital power for digital FM broadcasts, adoption of the National Radio Systems Committee-5 standard as a “formal regulatory standard,” and “a non-experimental basis of the use of asymmetric sidebands for digital FM transmissions,” the association told Media Bureau staff in a meeting Monday, according to an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 99-325.

As part of its support of Safer Internet Day 2017 -- to be marked on Tuesday -- NCTA launched a video-based parental resource, In Case You Missed It. The video series "covers the latest and greatest websites, apps and products to help parents manage their children’s online and media activities," NCTA said in a blog post Wednesday unveiling the videos. It said the series covers such issues as TV ratings and resources available for determining what apps are child friendly. NCTA said Safer Internet Day will happen in more than 100 nations, with the U.S. host site at ConnectSafely.org and the U.S. steering committee including Common Sense Media, Family Online Safety Institute, iKeepSafe Coalition, Internet Education Foundation, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, National Cyber Security Alliance and National PTA.

The 37-member Alliance for Competitive Taxation supports the House tax reform agenda, it said in a Thursday news release. The group, which includes Dell, Disney, Google and Verizon, offered approval without specifically mentioning some controversial “border adjustability” elements that would subject imports to taxation while exempting U.S. exports. "The ‘Better Way for Tax Reform’ blueprint includes many of the policies that our businesses support, including setting a competitive corporate tax rate at 20 percent, establishing a modern international tax system, promoting investment and job creation in the U.S., and providing a level playing field for U.S. and foreign companies competing to sell their goods and services at home and abroad," the group said. Border adjustability was mentioned in House Speaker Paul Ryan's tax reform agenda last year and continues to be seen as a key element, though no legislation has been introduced. Retailers, which generally depend heavily on imports, are largely opposed to such a provision.