Congressman Calls for a Bigger, Bolder CTO
BY Nancy Scola | Thursday, April 30 2009
This may be a bit in the weeds even for me, but hear me out. Is Aneesh Chopra the CTO we were promised by candidate Obama? Not Chopra, exactly, but the position of Chief Technology Officer of the United States of America he's been appointed to. Are the terms of service that have been laid out for Chopra's role in the executive office of the president ultimately consistent with what Obama pledged to institute during his run for the presidency? One Virginia Democrat is making the case that nope, it's not. And he wants to fix it.
Candidate Obama spoke about "the nation's first Chief Technology Officer" who would work to "ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century. The CTO will ensure the safety of our networks and will 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." We get into a small pit of trouble right at the start. Chopra has actually been appointed to the role of Associate Director of Technology in the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy, an advisory position that's been around for a while. That said, Chopra was also made, it seems, an assistant to the president, which could check the "first CTO" box.
But NextGov's Aliya Sternstein is reporting that Rep. Gerald Connolly is still backing a bill (H.R. 1910) that would, he argues, actually enshrine into statute the CTO position in a way that reflects the job Obama laid out during the campaign. Connolly, it seems, is making that case that we're playing small ball with the way the CTO position is currently laid out. His bill lays out the specific duties and obligations that a true U.S. CTO should carry. They're many, so I'd encourage you to read through them. But, in sum, this would be a CTO with considerable powers, a CTO with the strength of 10 presidential appointees! Chopra could hold hearings, hand out grants, and deputize volunteers as government employees -- which might be a end run around the continued messiness over whether technologists can actually do part-time service for their government under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
What does it all matter? It might not. But passing H.R. 1910 could create the opening that Chopra is going to need if he's to accomplish the tall stack of goals that President Obama has set in front of him.