The newly appointed federal chief technology officer has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, but Aneesh Chopra plans to issue recommendations on an open government directive by May 21, a White House official said.
The administration, via a blog and possibly through other new media conduits, plans to invite the public to comment on the memo as early as next week.
A presidential memo issued on Jan. 21, the day after Barack Obama's inauguration, set a deadline of May 21 for suggestions from the CTO on how to create a more transparent, collaborative and participatory government. The Obama administration then plans to issue a directive to all agencies based on the recommendations, according to the memo.
Chopra will honor the president's request with some form of a proposal, but it will not be the final product many open government activists were expecting, said the White House official, who asked not to be identified because the person is not authorized to talk publicly about the issue.
One hang-up has been Chopra's murky official status. On April 18 he was named an assistant to President Obama and appointed associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and his Senate confirmation is still pending. The administration also has yet to seek public comment on the memo, an omission that some transparency advocates argue weakens the open government initiative.
"People are going to be pretty upset if it's coming out in dribs and drabs, understanding that they're understaffed, but that's also an indication of the commitment of the White House," said Patrice McDermott, director of Openthegovernment.org, a coalition of journalists, advocacy groups and unions focused on strengthening public trust in government.
The White House has not announced a deadline for the directive.
By ALIYA STERNSTEIN, Nextgov
A lawmaker who backed the recent selection of Aneesh Chopra for White House chief technology officer continues to push his bill to make the position permanent, more powerful and more expansive, because the job's responsibilities are not what President Obama had first described.
Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., is still backing a bill (H.R. 1910) he introduced on April 2, because the job the president granted Chopra -- coordinating national strategies to spur innovation throughout the economy -- is not the role outlined during the transition. At that time, Obama said the responsibilities would be "to ensure the safety of our networks and lead an interagency effort, working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices."
The CTO -- the first-ever in government -- will focus more on leveraging technology to drive public and private innovation rather than using technology to transform government operations. Vivek Kundra, Obama's chief information officer, who resides in the Office of Management and Budget, will play that role by overseeing government-wide information technology. Obama made the CTO an assistant to the president, with direct access to him, and an associate director of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, reporting to OSTP Director John Holdren.
In contrast, the Connolly proposal would station an official in the Executive Office of the President to supervise both technology government-wide and national technology strategies.
Connolly said his bill would ensure that the CTO is the supreme technology leader in the White House, responsible for advancing intergovernmental and nationwide technology. Under the measure, the CTO's duties would include assessing federal IT policies, analyzing trends inIT, developing IT to assist human resource management, evaluating the effect of systems on privacy and security, and advising the president on the federal IT budget.
"What I'm trying to do here is essentially provide a statutory framework for what President Obama has done by executive order," said Connolly, referring to a February order that established the position of assistant to the president and chief technology officer. "It is a logical extension of what he has done. It guarantees that the CTO is the spokesman for technology in the federal government and the White House itself -- and the advocate for it."
By ALIYA STERNSTEIN, Nextgov
The appointment of Aneesh Chopra as the government's first chief technology officer signals that the administration is serious about updating the nation's technology infrastructure, said former federal officials, industry leaders and open government advocates.
As CTO, Chopra will be an assistant to President Obama, with direct access to him. Chopra also will serve as associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, if confirmed by the Senate for that position, administration officials said on Monday.
Until Obama tapped Chopra on April 18, the technology industry feared the president had reneged on the White House-level position he had promised during the transition. Months went by without an appointment, the administration announced the CTO would work within OSTP, and reports surfaced that heavy hitters such as Google Inc.'s CEO Eric Schmidt had turned down the job.
But with the president's ear -- Chopra, a well-respected technology secretary for the commonwealth of Virginia -- will carry the backing of the White House when conferring with agency officials. The administration's tech team also includes Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, Washington's former chief technology officer; New Media Director Macon Phillips, who helped manage Obama's online presidential campaign; and Citizen Participation Director Katie Stanton, a veteran of Google.
White House officials described the CTO and CIO positions as complementary. The CTO role involves contemplating how advanced technologies can improve the economy and quality of life, said Rick Weiss, senior science and technology policy analyst at OSTP. Examples include examining how technology can foster private sector innovation, reduce health care costs and transform teaching. Kundra will be more focused on intergovernmental uses of technologies to improve federal operations and public outreach.
By ALIYA STERNSTEIN, Nextgov
Aneesh Chopra, the nation's first-ever chief technology officer, would serve as both "assistant to the president" and "associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy" if confirmed by the Senate, White House officials said on Monday.
As assistant to President Obama, he would have direct access to the president, said Rick Weiss, senior science and technology policy analyst at OSTP. Within OSTP, he also would report to OSTP Director John Holdren.
The CTO job was initially touted as a White House-level position, but the technology industry feared the post had been downgraded after months went by without an appointment. When the administration announced the CTO would work at OSTP, open government advocates and industry expressed even more doubts about the job's heft.
But with the president's ear, Chopra, the current technology secretary for the state of Virginia, will automatically carry the backing of the White House when conferring with agency officials.
The CTO slot entails thinking through uses of advanced technologies that can improve the economy and quality of life, Weiss said. Examples include examining how technology can foster private sector innovation, reduce health care costs and transform teaching. White House officials described the CTO position and the role of Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra as complementary. Kundra is more focused on intergovernmental uses of technologies to improve federal operations and public outreach.
The OSTP appointment requires confirmation by the full Senate, but the assistant to the president appointment takes effect immediately, officials said.
Chopra's start date has not yet been determined, as he is tying up loose ends in the Virginia government.
By ALLAN HOLMES, Nextgov
Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra, President Obama's choice for the long-promised chief technology officer post, is intimately familiar with the role the CTO will play. He was a member of Obama's transition team, which helped craft the priorities for the CTO. He will have a stake in overseeing the $19 billion in the stimulus package aimed at encouraging the creation of electronic health records.
In an interview with Nextgov, Chopra said the health records initiative faces the biggest opposition from physicians. Estimates put the percentage of physicians who use electronic health records in their practices between 4 percent and 17 percent.
"Adoption is the major barrier," Chopra said. "My general view is the [stimulus package] will encourage physicians to move to the tipping point of saying, 'Maybe I will take the plunge.' But there is still risk the physician has to take.
"My guess is that President Obama views this money as a down payment, the initial component of an overall health reform goal that will include reform of our health payment system in general to pay for outcomes and quality. The secret will be watching closely Obama's health reform goals to see if quality is tied to payments. I have strong confidence in the discussion taking place."
During his run for president, Obama released a government reform agenda in September 2008 that outlined what the CTO would do, including meeting with agencies to make sure they were using the best technologies and best practices. "Like he has in the campaign, Obama will employ innovative technologies, including blogs, wikis, social networking tools and other new strategies, to modernize internal, cross-agency, and public communication and information sharing," according to the plan.
Sources said Chopra was interested in the CTO position within the Health and Human Services Department, where he could focus on IT as it pertained to health care, such as creating a national network of electronic health records. In the interview with Nextgov, he said health IT was "a labor of love" and that he spent his career in state government advancing the cause of using IT to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. Chopra is a former managing director with the health care think tank The Advisory Board Co.
Nextgov has more on this story.
By ANDREW NOYES, CongressDaily
President Obama on Saturday announced the selection of Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra to serve as the nation's first chief technology officer, making good on a campaign promise to create the post that enthused Silicon Valley and high-tech policy watchers in Washington.
Chopra "will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities -- from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure," Obama said in his weekly radio address.
He will work closely with Obama's chief information officer, Vivek Kundra, who is responsible for setting technology policy across the government, and using technology to improve security, ensure transparency and lower costs.
Kundra was appointed CIO and administrator for e-government at OMB last month. The pair worked together before when Kundra served as Virginia's assistant secretary of commerce and technology.
Before joining Gov. Tim Kaine's cabinet, Chopra was a managing director at the Advisory Board Company, a health care think tank.
Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., has introduced legislation that would make President Obama's proposed "chief technology officer" a permanent executive branch position. National Journal's Tech Daily Dose has more on this story.
Despite months of speculation about potential candidates -- and about what the job would entail -- the post remains unfilled for now. In recent months, Lost In Transition has discussed the CTO position with Microsoft's Carolyn Brubaker, Web guru Vinton Cerf, and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark.
As a new, tech-savvy president prepares to take the reins in Washington, federal IT contractors are positioning themselves to be a part of the action. Microsoft Federal, for instance, has established the temporary post of "chief transition officer" to help the company forge a working relationship with the incoming administration.
Nextgov's Allan Holmes spoke recently with Microsoft's new "CTO," Carolyn Brubaker, about what this new position entails -- and about the potential role of President-elect Obama's yet-to-be-named chief technology officer.
Nextgov: What have you heard about what the role of the chief technology officer might be?
Brubaker: We're not quite sure what that's going to look like now, but from some of the information we are getting it looks like it's going to be an external adviser, someone who's really advising on national technology issues, with the primary goal of citizen outreach and engagement. That's a big objective of President-elect Obama's.They have an intense group of leaders who are looking at technology. We have received some inquiries, and from what I can tell they're just not only looking at technology, they're looking at reforming the process.
Nextgov: Are you saying the CTO will be more involved in using social networking technologies to engage the public rather than getting into the weeds of government to use IT to improve operations?
Brubaker: From some of the thoughts that have been shared [with us], it seems like that's probably the way it will be shaped. The CTO would really focus on citizen engagement and participation in government. I speculate that there will be a fairly structured group [in the Office of Management and Budget] that's really going to pay close attention to the inner workings of government and use technology to guide that. The CTO will really have more of a national perspective on goals.
The full interview is available at Nextgov. Lost In Transition has previously discussed the new CTO position with Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Google's Vinton Cerf.
(Credit: STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)
Computer science pioneer Vinton Cerf, commonly referred to as the "father of the Internet" and currently Google's chief Internet evangelist, isn't sure exactly what Barack Obama's proposed chief technology officer position would entail. But he recently told NationalJournal.com that a national CTO could do a lot to stoke the country's economic engine.
Cerf, an Obama donor who is reported to be on the short list for the first-of-its-kind position, said that the transition team has not approached him about joining the administration. But regardless of who is offered the CTO position, he said, "if the job is of the sort that I imagine and hope it might be, I'd certainly want to be supportive of the party in that role."
He says there is great potential for the CTO to create jobs through investments in American infrastructure -- including infrastructure that supports information technology and energy, particularly electrical power grids and tools that manage energy consumption. He said that fulfilling such a task would be hard, "but I also think this is an amazing opportunity, given our current economic situation."
Read more about Cerf's hopes for the CTO position on Monday in an Insider Interview with NationalJournal.com's Theresa Poulson.
The tech industry is eagerly awaiting Barack Obama's promised appointment of a chief technology officer for the federal government. The proposed tech czar would, in Obama's words, "ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century."
Government Executive's Allan Holmes spoke recently with the nation's first and only federal CTO to date, Norm Lorentz, who served as technology officer for the Office of Management and Budget from 2002 to 2003. Lorentz discussed where the new CTO might come from, what his or her skill set should be, and what challenges lie ahead in reforming the government's outdated tech practices.
Read the full interview here, and read what craigslist founder Craig Newmark told NationalJournal.com yesterday about the new CTO position here.
By DAVID HERBERT
(Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Craig Newmark, the founder of classifieds giant craigslist, has some advice for President-elect Barack Obama as he searches for a chief technology officer: Find someone who can foster public-private sector partnerships and "crack the whip" to bring about necessary reforms in tech policy.
"The government isn't ready in some respects to use these new technologies," Newmark said. "When it comes to computer technology, there are some really smart people who can do something in a month that it would take the government a year to do."
Pushing a national broadband strategy and overhauling the government's information technology infrastructure should be near the top of any tech czar's to-do list, Newmark argued. And, given the array of technological challenges facing the next administration, Newmark recommended the president-elect keep his campaign pledge to elevate the position to a Cabinet-level post.
So would Newmark leave craigslist and San Francisco for the Beltway if Obama came calling? Not likely.
"I have a job -- it's customer service -- and I'll be doing that for a long time," he said. "Washington is too humid. You can quote me on that."
