about 17,500 employees. Only about 4,300 of SAIC’s 45,000 employees live and work in the San Diego region. As the San Diego Union-Tribune reported last week (and Beyster tells me he was accurately quoted) SAIC’s new CEO, Walt Havenstein, had called him to assure him that the company would retain a strong presence in San Diego.
Although he walks slowly and with a cane, Beyster still maintains an active life of the mind. He continues to write his own Internet blog—he’s done two guests posts for Xconomy, as well—about topics that interest him, especially innovative trends in science, entrepreneurship, and employee ownership. He is a tireless advocate for using employee ownership as a way to both motivate and reward employees, and his blog generates a lot of comments from both current and former SAIC employees.
In recent weeks, amid blog postings about global politics, industry awards, and ocean cruises, Beyster has issued articles on weightier subjects. Last week, he published the first installment of a three-part series called “A Long-Term Energy Solution,” which was preceded by a similar three-part series on cybersecurity.
When I asked why he’s writing about cybersecurity, Beyster tells me, “I think of all the things that might be a problem for the Internet in the future—that is the one.” Beyster’s longtime interest in the Internet also stems from SAIC’s acquisition of Network Solutions, and the company’s early role in the phenomenal growth of the Internet. He wants to write a book on the subject.
Beyster explains that his current series on the energy problem is the result of his lifelong interest in the field. His approach so far is realistic and even-handed, explaining that fossil fuels currently meet about 83.5 percent of our energy needs, while renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydroelectric power account for less than 5 percent. As a nuclear physicist, he’s not about to disregard the potential of nuclear energy. But he also acknowledges that political support for nuclear energy in the United States is problematic, to say the least.
Beyster’s daughter Mary Ann also tells me that the Foundation for Enterprise Development, the non-profit group established to emulate SAIC’s approach to solving problems of national and global importance, also has provided funding for several energy-related initiatives. They include funding for “The MIT Sustainability Initiative,” which is intended to evaluate new business models that are emerging among clean and green technology companies—and to what extent broad-based ownership is part of those models.
