What we’ve seen since last June [due to the NSA security fallout] is a double-digit decline in people’s trust in American tech companies in key places like Brussels and Berlin and Brasilia. This has put trust at risk. The longer we wait or the less we do the worse the problem becomes. We are seeing other governments consider new procurement rules — procurement rules that could effectively freeze out US-based companies. — Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel
To be sure, this deal [Nest Labs buying Dropcam for $555 million] is much smaller [than Google buying Nest for $3.2 billion], but half a billion dollars isn’t chump change, even by Silicon Valley’s standards. That’s especially so for a company launched in 2009 and run by a 27-year-old CEO …. — Julie Bort, editor/writer at Business Insider
The biggest events in the world, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the big reality shows, all use the cloud for various online services. — Andy Jassy, head of Amazon Web Services
People were equally as concerned when they first put cameras on phones,” he said. “Like, whoa, you’re going to film me? People freaked, but now they are OK with it. It’s just a matter of time until people get used to it. There are a lot of places in the city saying Google Glass is not welcome, but our stance was to embrace the technology. The first thing we did was offer a free drink to any local person who came in wearing the glass at our (lobby) bar. We gave away dozens of drinks that night. It was quite a sight. — Austin Phillips, director sales and marketing, Stanford Court
It’s really important for CIOs to not be afraid and get out and innovate and not manage out of fear. You get much more out of it than the risk you take on. — Brian Lillie, CIO, Equinix, who was recently Silicon Valley’s CIO of the Year