Obama names chief technology officer
Making good on a campaign promise, President Barack Obama has filled the position of U.S. Chief Technology Officer, the first time that job has existed in the history of the country.
Harvard educated Indian-American Aneesh Chopra, 36, will use technology to “improve security, ensure transparency, and lower costs. … In this role, Aneesh 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.
Obama noted during his weekly address that Chopra would work closely with Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra. Kundra is responsible for United States government technology policy and federal technology spending, which totals more than $70 billion each year, according to a PC Mag story. Chopra has experience in the health policy field, where he has advised the state of Virginia on policy and served as hospital consulting company executive.
Chopra is not exactly a household name, and his appointment came as a surprise to many. It had been expected that Obama would name a high-profile industry leader to the post, and names such as Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, Jeff Bezos, and Steve Jobs have been on the short list at one time or another.
TechAmerica president Phil Bond said about Chopra, “As Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia, Aneesh is well known to the nation’s technology community. He has championed policies that enable better government and a stronger economy through use of technology. Notably, his role in Virginia placed him in leadership in the state with the highest concentration of tech workers, and a state that added tech jobs for four consecutive years as of 2007.”
Another industry insider, Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of the Business Software Alliance, said, “Aneesh Chopra is a superb choice. He will bring a unique combination of vision and real-world experience to the role. We are equally encouraged by the visionary role that the President has planned for the CTO: that he will be a member of the President’s senior economic policy team; will play a leading role in putting IT to work for the American people; and will serve as an ‘evangelist’ for policies to spur innovation and economic growth.”
It was probably more important that the new CTO of the U.S. have government experience than a high profile in the industry. He will be working closely with tech industry leaders, as well as with government technology leaders. An understanding of the working of government will allow him to better translate the needs of all parties as it relates to the public sector.
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