Winner
Clean Technology
Ross Perot changed Scott Lang’s life. Lang, a fourth-generation farmer, was the first in his family to earn a college degree. Then after graduation, he considered going back to the family farm, but after long conversations with his father and Perot, he opted instead to follow Perot to Electronic Data Systems. There, he invented a new approach for the company’s largest client, General Motors, to improve quality.
And when Perot founded Perot Systems in 1988, he recruited Scott to help him establish it as the world’s leading systems integrator. After spending nearly 10 years in Europe to build the firm’s international business, that part of the company accounted for nearly half the revenue, delivering several hundred millions of dollars in annual revenue.
After more than 20 years with Perot, Scott became the chairman, president and CEO of Silver Spring Networks, which was established with the idea of solving the global challenge of how utility clients communicate with customers. His goal was to achieve a better and greener planet that would ultimately require utilities and their customers to be networked in real time, all the time.
His first contract was with Florida Power & Light, putting Silver Spring at the tipping point. Soon after, two more utilities signed on.
Today, the company is the world’s leading provider of Smart Grid solutions and has signed contracts with utilities that represent more than 20 percent of the U.S. population. It digitizes power usage and communicates information about power usage and price points to customers, allowing them to participate in the process and providing two-way communication of potential problems so they can be resolved in a timely manner. It also allows consumers to track their energy use and lets utilities increase operational efficiencies, increase efficiency of the grid and harness power from renewable sources.
How to reach: Silver Spring Networks, (650) 298-4200 or www.silverspringnet.com
