Vivek Kundra has been named as President Obama's CIO. He is the former CTO of the District of Columbia and Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Technology for Virginia. He looks like someone who has interacted with Washington a fair bit. I don't know if that is good or bad and I'm from Virginia. What will be interesting is how he and Genachowski will combine their expertise. Given the ever-growing interaction between IT and telecommunications (IP communications), their positions will intersect. With regard to addressing the anticipation of these two appointments (one requiring approval, the other not), the administration has delivered. We know the portfolio of the Chairman of the FCC; it will be interesting to see how the role of the nation's CIO evolves. While the initial job description is to save the government money and institute a Web 2.0 government. Us ordinary technologists are left to wonder what does that mean? Not wanting to sound critical but more confused, I also noted his comments regarding establishing a government Facebook.
"You've got 140 million (Facebook) users that have been able to organize on issues and problems and create a movement so people can be heard," Kundra said. The effort of creating this type of access and online gathering place is to establish an area where citizens can turn to each other for solutions to government issues and their own conditions.
This sounds interesting on the surface but as with all things, it will be in the execution of the idea that will determine its success.
Will we, the US government, actually take successful advantage of off-the-shelf applications, cloud computing, open-source technology, and the Internet? Too early to tell, but with our newly appointed CIO, soon to be appointed CTO and nominated FCC Chairman, we'll see if the way America addresses information technology will change.
Welcome to the 21st Century.
Come back on Monday for something delicious...
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