www.hsianet.org
Biography
Bruce Aitken is the founder and President of the Homeland Security Industries Association (HSIA) and a Co-Chair of the
Aitken Berlin, LLP law firm with offices in Kiev, New York and Washington, D.C. Mr. Aitken has thirty years experience
in trade association management and counseling, particularly in the transportation and hi-tech areas. His specialties
include government contracting/homeland security, international trade, and government relations/lobbying.
With respect to government contracting and homeland security, Mr. Aitken notably was named as the Legal Advisor for
Government Procurement Law Reform to the State Planning & Development Committee of China in 1996 as part of its
successful effort to achieve membership in the World Trade Organization.
He founded HSIA in 2002 after 9 months of investment and planning. It was an immediate success and includes over 400
members ranging from major Defense Contractors, through mid sized firms, incubator firms and 8 university representatives.
He also formed Homeland Security Business Advisors (HSBA), which is a marketing/lobbying firm which has achieved notable
success in building on HSIA's reputation to market firm to federal and state HLS officials. See "About HSIA"
at
www.hsianet.org. In Aug., 2005, The Hill newspaper named HSIA as the only trade
association on its list of the six most influential lobby groups on HLS, as well as Mr. Aitken personally and his law firm.
In 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) named Mr. Aitken as the only private sector representative on its
Working Group on Guidelines for State & Local Governments. He also was instrumental in helping to launch the
Interoperability Consortium with HSIA member E-team, which was formally launched at a March 10, 2004 HSIA Conference
including an awards dinner for HLS leader Rep. Curt Weldon, a mentor to HSIA.
In 2004, he was one of only two trade association executives (HSIA and ASIS) named to participate in the ANSI/911
Commission Working Group on Developing Homeland Security Private Sector Standards. Also, in mid 2004, he was named
to the Board of World Business Review (CNBC) as its Homeland Security Industry Expert.
In 2005, Mr. Aitken cooperated with DHS in the successful launch of the Consumer Electronics Security Initiative, for
which HSIA received a letter of commendation from DHS Undersecretary Gen. Pat Hughes. He also was a member of a select
group of private sector representatives included in twice per week conference calls with DHS, and Gulf State
representatives, in the Reconstruction effort in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. And in March, 2005, he
began his work as the HLS Industry Expert on the World Business Review television show, with Gen. Alexander Haig, which
is shown worldwide. In June, 2005, HSIA joined with the International Securities Exchange, Investrades and Cronus
Capital Markets in forming the first and only Homeland Security Stock Index and its key related program, the HLS
Opportunity Data Base, under which both privately held and public HLS firms are prescreened and chosen for inclusion
in the Data Base, in order to encourage investment in HLS goods, services and technologies. He also arranged a merger
of HSIA and HSBA with National Security Solutions, for the purpose of acquiring or investing in privately and publicly
held HLS firms.
In 2006, HSIA's initiatives include a key focus on state HLS funding and international funding of HLS, including a
conference series on the New York State Homeland Security Council, which he helped launch, and focusing on the NYS
HLS Vetting Program, which HSIA believes is a model for the country.
In the media area, Mr. Aitken has spoken at scores of HLS conferences here and abroad and has appeared many times in
such media forums as British Broadcasting, CNBC, CNN, C-Span, Fox News, and many others, including El Jazeera. In 2006,
HSIA published the Homeland Security Deskbook and Buyers Guide, which Mr. Aitken co-edited.
In the trade area, he is the only American to have been appointed to all the major international Dispute Resolution
Panels, including: the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement (by President Bush, in 1991); the NAFTA (by President Clinton,
in 1994); the WTO (by President Clinton, in 1996); and the World Intellectual Property Organization (by invitation,
in 1997). Mr. Aitken has been widely published for over 30 years here and abroad.
Mr. Aitken is a graduate of Fordham College, Columbia University's Grad. School of Business, and American University
Law School. He has served since 1999 as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law School and American University Law School.
He is married with 3 children and is a long-time Assistant Scoutmaster with Boy Scouts of America, as his son, who also
is an Eagle Scout.
