FCC adds six to Technical Advisory Council

The Federal Communications Council announced six new members will joint its Technical Advisory Council on Monday including former Four-Star General Wesley Clark.

“These are first-rate business leaders," said FCC chairman Julius Genachowski. "I am confident they will help the FCC spur job creation, investment and American competitiveness through technology innovation and the expansion of broadband services.”

The council consists of of industry leaders who will provide the chairman with recommendations for how the Commission can ensure the Internet and the nation's digital infrastructure continue to evolve.

The council was revived last year and held its first meeting in December, where they identified regulatory hurdles for broadband providers and providing incentives for retiring legacy systems as other areas the Commission should address to stimulate broadband innovation.

The list of new council members and their official biographies are after the jump.

• Shahid Ahmed, Network Practice Lead, Accenture: Mr. Ahmed is the global lead for the Wireless Technology Consulting Practice and manages the North American Practice for the Accenture Cisco Business Group, a joint partnership between Cisco and Accenture. Mr. Ahmed has spent more than 15 years helping enterprise and mobile operators worldwide achieve high performance operation.


• General Wesley Clark (U.S. Army, ret.) Chairman of Rodman and Renshaw Investment Bank: After an illustrious career serving his nation in the military and retiring at the rank of Four-Star General, General Clark now participates in a number of leading private sector activities. In addition to his role as Chairman of Rodman and Renshaw Investment Bank, he serves as Chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark and Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based strategic consulting firm.


• Paul Mankiewich, Chief Architect, Mobility Solutions, Juniper Networks: Mr. Mankiewich is the former CTO of Americas for Alcatel-Lucent and is now Chief Architect, Mobility Solutions for Juniper Networks. He has received numerous awards for wireless innovation and has published more than 80 papers on the subject.


• John Marinho, Director, Enterprise Mobility Solutions, Dell, Incorporated: In his current role, Mr. Marinho is responsible for bringing end-to-end wireless solutions to market. Prior to his position with Dell, Inc., Mr. Marinho held leadership positions at several companies including Bell Laboratories, where he was the recipient of the Bell Labs President’s Award for Innovation. He holds multiple patents in the field of communications technology.


• Devin Parekh, Managing Director, Insight Venture Partners: Mr. Parekh has held a senior level position with Insight for the past 10 years. He was previously a Principal at Berenson Minella & Company, a New York based merchant banking firm where he served on the firm’s M & A Committee. Prior to Berenson Minella, Mr. Parekh was with The Blackstone Group, where he was involved in both M & A advisory and principal activities. He is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.


• Russ Gyurek, Office of the CTO, Cisco Systems: Mr. Gyurek leads the Global Technology Leadership Team under Padmasree Warrior, Cisco’s CTO. In this role, Mr. Rgyurek manages multinational, multidisciplinary teams driving broadband policies and technologies for the Internet. Prior to Cisco, he managed advanced technology deployment initiatives for BellSouth.