The latest name to circulate as the possible pick for Obama's chief technology officer is Virginia's secretary of technology, Aneesh Chopra, according to a source with inside knowledge of the administration's plans.
Chopra is the latest in a long list of individuals who have been named as possibilities for the position. Reports that Cisco's CTO Padrasmee Warrior and D.C.'s CTO Vivek Kundra were candidates for the job were later dismissed. Sources now point to Kundra as Karen Evan's replacement as administrator for e-government and information technology in the Office of Management and Budget.
The CTO position, which generated a lot of enthusiasm in the IT community because Obama promised during the campaign to have the position report directly to him, has lost some of its prestige with reports that it will carry less clout than anticipated, being placed farther down in the reporting chain.
COMMENTS
I am a Chief Information Officer. My entire career has been in health care IT. How can I get involved and help ... ?
Ronald kelley 02/11/09 12:40 pm ET
Mr Chopra's experience within one of the most respected State IT shops in the country would assure that the new CTO would get the kind of respect it needs to effect real change. Virginia has a long history of recruiting and grooming top notch IT professionals, due in part to the significant support this position has received from past governors. Great leadership begets great leaders.
My only recommendation to Aneesh is make sure that the position comes with the authority to change broker IT acquisition processes. The technology part is easy, and the acquisition process is both broken and compromised by conflicts of interests.
Since the CTO position was announced, a groups of forward thinking public interest groups, long ignored by the past administration, have rallied to support this important mission. At risk is an estimate $300 Billion annual IT expenditure (three times what is reported to OMB). The failure patterns have been well documented, and the medicine will be very bitter.
John Weiler 02/05/09 07:53 am ET