Along with other industry leaders, Microsoft has recently announced its intention to leave Donald Trump’s advisory board pertaining to the ‘digital economy’ set up by the Trump administration.
The recent violence in Charlottesville, and the ensuing political upheaval resulting from what many perceived to be President Trump’s lack of condemnation for the white supremacist and neo-Nazi ideologies that spurred it, have resulted in increasing criticism of the administration by not only political operatives but also leaders of industry.
The latest of these are the members of the Digital Economy Board of Advisors committee setup by the Department of Commerce. The list of companies previously on the board includes big names like Microsoft, Mozilla, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Silicon Valley Bank, and others.
While Microsoft did not give any comment beyond announcing that its president and legal chief Brad Smith « is no longer a member of the group. », Zoe Baird, a co-chair of the board provided more insight as to what triggered the string of resignations from these tech giants:
Mitchell Baker, executive chairwoman of Mozilla, and the other co-chair on the board further commented:
The Digital Economy Board of Advisors is the third such council to be dissolved in the last week, following the resignation of Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, and other members, from the American Manufacturing Council and Trump’s decision to scrap the Strategic and Policy Forum following a string of resignations from the members of that body.
Source: VICE, MSPoweruser
