The times they are a changin. Can the government move into the next decade with the right insight and policies on technology? Are these three bringing the right stuff or are we just getting the age old gold, frankincense, and myrrh?
Obama named Howard Schmidt as the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator last week. He will be responsible for working with Congress to help fund a new national cybersecurity strategy and to align policies among civilian, military and intelligence agencies. An overwhelming job, the critics say he is up to it but will he have enough say and power to really get the job done? He brings his resume of public, private, law enforcement, and military experience. Read articles from GovTech.com and FederalTimes.com.
Obama named Aneesh Chopra as the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer last April. His job is to promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities, from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure. He will be instrumental in assisting the CIO in developing and implementing Obama’s ambitious technology agenda. He brings his ability to promote and explain Government 2.0. And as CTO of Virginia, his team was ranked #1 in technology management from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. Read articles from Radar.OReilly.com and WhoRunsGov.com.
Obama named Todd Park as chief technology officer of the Health and Human Services Department last August. His job is to devise innovative and creative methods of increasing the use of technology to manage the nation’s medical information. Although he is not bringing the gold he did strike gold as co-founder of Athenahealth. He brings his health industry technology and connections. Read articles from GovHealthIT.com and Healthcare.zdnet.com
We will be keeping an eye on their trek in 2010. Stay tuned.