Editor's Note: This story was updated at 1 p.m. March 29, 2006, with additional information.

The Senate on March 16 confirmed Robert Cresanti, who has represented technology industry interests, to become the Commerce Department’s undersecretary for technology.

Cresanti replaced Philip Bond, who resigned last spring after serving four years in the position. Bond is now senior vice president for government relations with Monster International.

Cresanti will direct the department’s Technology Administration, which works to improve technological innovation and competitiveness and oversees the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Technical Information Service, and the Office of Technology Policy.

During testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee in February, Cresanti said he would outline and implement a strategy for appropriate government support of industry’s rapid technological advances and help foster an environment for industry investment in innovation.

“From information technology to biotechnology to technology on the nanoscale, and all of the fields in between, new technologies and applications are being developed at a fast and furious pace,” he said. “With further investment, they will lead to the introduction of commercial innovations in the form of new products and processes.”

Cresanti was previously vice president for public policy at the Business Software Alliance, an advocacy group that represents the commercial software industry. He was also senior vice president and general counsel for the IT Association of America, another group representing the technology industry’s interests.

When he was in government, he served as staff director of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem and as staff director of the Senate Banking Committee’s subcommittee on financial services.