John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology; Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)

Described by President Obama as one of the "most passionate and persistent voices of our time about the growing threat of climate change," John Holdren will bring a new perspective to the top spot at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. He's an accomplished researcher who shares the president's commitment to scientific inquiry and, along with his two co-chairs, he will be tasked with remaking the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Still, the fact that Holdren isn't the only physicist on this year's tech policy People to Watch list hasn't gone unnoticed by us (see Steven Chu). He's primarily been focused on energy and climate issues in recent years, and it is expected that those matters will be atop his agenda at OSTP and PCAST as well.

Fred Humphries, Managing Director of Federal Affairs, Microsoft Corp.

Though not without its missteps, Microsoft can be credited with blazing a trail for tech companies that followed its path to Washington. Even today, more than a decade after the Justice Department filed its landmark antitrust case against the software company, Microsoft finds itself on the front lines of key legislative battles involving the tech industry.

Fred Humphries is leading that charge now as the company's new policy chief. Humphries, who recently moved from Redmond to D.C. to replace legendary lobbyist Jack Krumholtz, will draw upon his vast network and his years of local and state government affairs experience to advance Microsoft's policy priorities, which include promoting health I.T., protecting intellectual property, and increasing H-1B visas.

Vivek Kundra, Chief Technology Officer, District of Columbia Government

Vivek Kundra is the chief technology officer (CTO) for the District of Columbia, where he's responsible for meeting the technology needs of 86 government agencies that serve over 600,000 residents, along with scores of commuters and visitors who descend upon the nation's capitol each day.

D.C.'s CTO since 2007, Kundra has earned accolades for cutting costs and rethinking the way technology is used by government—a prime example is his successful Apps for Democracy contest that challenged developers to build new applications for sharing city data with citizens, at a fraction of what it would have cost to farm out the work.

As a member of President Obama's transition team, he has talked about the need to drive change within the federal government by focusing on innovation and outcomes instead of compliance and process. Such an approach would represent a radical departure from how many federal agencies currently operate, and Kundra just may get the chance to affect that change as the country's first national CTO. Even if he doesn't, his example in D.C. will be closely watched by government I.T. administrators around the country.

Sascha Meinrath, Research Director, Wireless Future Program, New America Foundation

Before joining New America Foundation in 2007, Sascha Meinrath previously worked as a policy analyst, telecom consultant, and community organizer. The skills he developed in those three different roles undoubtedly have influenced his current work as research director at New America's Wireless Future program where he and Michael Calabrese are striving to reform U.S. telecommunications policy, particularly spectrum access, one challenging step at a time.

In addition to his research on municipal broadband networks and net neutrality, Meinrath is heading up a new Open Technology Initiative (OTI) on behalf of New America, and he helped produce the new network metrics site M-Lab. OTI's charter is to advocate policy and regulatory changes that support open architectures, technologies, and communications networks.

Ellen Miller, Co-founder and Executive Director, Sunlight Foundation

As executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, Ellen Miller is working to open up Washington politics so that the public is aware of what happens behind closed doors (and in broad daylight).

She's leading the effort to increase government transparency and accountability using the power of the internet and, under her direction, Sunlight has already liberated gigabytes of important political data and made it available to bloggers, journalists, and other citizens—in effect creating a new generation of D.C. watchdogs.

Miller co-founded Sunlight during the last half of Bush's second term, and her work will be sure to evolve during the Obama administration, which has vowed to promote greater transparency.

Jon M. Peha, Chief Technologist, Federal Communications Commission

Before being named chief technologist for the Federal Communications Commission last October, Jon Peha worked as an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) where he was also associate director of the Center for Wireless and Broadband Networking. A CTO with startup experience, Peha's research interests while at CMU included spectrum policy reform, network neutrality, and public safety communications.

As recently as last April, Peha testified before the FCC at its hearing on Comcast's network management practices, criticizing the cable company while urging the commissioners to be "cautious about adopting broad restrictions." Though not everyone agreed with his testimony then, now—as the FCC's senior adviser on technology issues—Peha finds himself in a unique position to influence the Commission's decisions more directly.

Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google, and Chairman of New America Foundation

One of the perks of being chairman and CEO of a company as pervasive as Google is that Eric Schmidt needs no introduction. What wasn't obvious a mere year ago was how involved he would become in presidential politics and policy. Since publicly endorsing Barack Obama's candidacy in late October, Schmidt has become a frequent spokesman for Obama's innovation and economic policies, a role that was made official when he was named as a member of the transition team's economic advisory board.

He has repeatedly denied that he's interested in a more permanent spot in the President's Cabinet, say as the national CTO. That doesn't mean he won't have a seat at the table, though. As skeptics have been quick to point out, Schmidt and Google seem to have more than a few hooks into the new administration and you can be sure that he'll continue to be a power player throughout 2009. He has also stepped up his involvement in New America Foundation, a nonprofit think tank he has been affiliated with for a number of years.

Ben Scott, Policy Director, Free Press

As the chief D.C. lobbyist for Free Press, the advocacy group behind the Save the Internet and Stop Big Media campaigns, Ben Scott keeps a watchful eye on the country's telecom and media giants—and he's ready to react when he disagrees with them.

He helped reignite the net neutrality debate last year by leading the Free Press offensive against Comcast, energizing legions of grassroots net neutrality supporters in the process. Even those who dislike Free Press's in-your-face tactics have lauded Scott for his know-how and grit, both of which we expect to see more of in 2009.

Gigi Sohn, Co-founder and President, Public Knowledge

A perennial presence on the tech policy scene, Gigi Sohn is a force to be reckoned with. She is the face—and voice—of Public Knowledge, the nonprofit interest group she co-founded in 2001. If there's a policy debate involving consumers' digital rights, you can bet Sohn will be involved to make sure PK's concerns are heard.

Already, Sohn has participated in a number of meetings with President Obama's transition team; several PK advisers served on the transition. She has also known Julius Genachowski for years, which makes her latest project to reform the Federal Communications Commission all the more compelling.

Representative Henry Waxman (Democrat of California), Chairman, U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Representative Henry Waxman became chairman of the House of Representative's powerful Committee on Energy and Commerce after making a bold move to unseat his Democratic colleague John Dingell, who had long held the committee chairmanship. The California politician, whose district encompasses parts of Los Angeles, has proved that he's ready to take on tough challenges, even if it means making waves within his own party.

Along with the Judiciary, the Energy and Commerce committee is one of the most important for technology policy. Representative Waxman's purview will include critical issues like network neutrality, FCC oversight and the digital TV transition. While it's widely believed that he will focus first on energy policy, we'll be watching to see what he does in regard to other areas like intellectual property and broadcast regulation as well.

Joe Waz, Senior Vice President, External Affairs and Public Policy Counsel, Comcast Corp.

After spending much of last year in the hot seat defending its network management practices before the FCC and critics like Free Press, what will 2009 hold for Comcast? One person likely to shape the answer to that question is the cable company's policy chief, Joe Waz.

In a parting shot before his departure last week, former FCC chairman Kevin Martin raised questions about Comcast's handling of VoIP calls, and the company is moving ahead with its appeal of last year's FCC decision against its throttling of BitTorrent users even though it has since changed how it manages its network. Chances are that Comcast, and Waz, will need to keep defending their practices as the FCC changes hands and net neutrality supporters gear up for another fight.

Phil Weiser, Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Research, and Executive Director of Silicon Flatirons Center, University of Colorado Law School

Boulder, Colorado, still may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of tech policy, but professor Phil Weiser has done a great deal to raise the profile of the University of Colorado's Silicon Flatirons Center. As the Center's executive director, he's created an innovative environment for research in telecom and information policy law.

A former attorney for the Justice Department's antitrust division, Weiser co-chaired the Federal Trade Commission review team during the Obama-Biden transition. He also recently launched a project to promote reform of the Federal Communications Commission, along with Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn.

Tech Policy Central's Names To Watch

Our partners at Tech Policy Central, who helped oversee the nomination process for the People to Watch list, had a few additional picks of their own that we'd like to share with you. Here are 10 more people to look for in '09:

• Lawyer Christine Varney
• Commerce Secretary designate Judd Gregg
• Dean Garfield of the Information Technology Innovation Council
• Link Hoewing of Verizon
• Tom Kalil of UC Berkeley
• Law professor Beth Noveck
• Jules Polonetsky of the Future of Privacy Forum
• Telecom analyst Blair Levin
• Congressman Rush Holt of New Jersey
• Fred von Lohmann of EFF