ReasonedResponse.com

President-elect Obama has been largely silent on who and what this new position of Chief Technology Officer for the government will be, but the basic idea is a good one.

Unlikely to be a cabinet-level post, the Federal CTO is also unlikely to be a policy-making position -- the federal government already has plenty of policy wonks within the Department of Commerce and the Federal Communications Commission, and there is little evidence that these are not sufficient to the task of setting policy and regulation.  Where these are not enough, there are always the committees in the House and Senate to fill the gap.

Where the CTO would be a welcome addition to the Administration and to the Federal Government will be in four specific areas:

1. Advancing the security of government technologies.  The last decade has been an unending litany of failures and gaffes in this arena -- failing grades on cyber-security, lost laptops, security breaches, and more.  Someone needs to bring a greater measure of consistency and security to the computer and telecommunications systems of the entire Federal government, and the CTO is a logical candidate for the job.
2. Advancing the cause of eGovernment.  President-elect Obama has correctly identified a problem in how information about our government is consistently and transparently communicated to Americans via the Internet.  If you don't believe that, try using the FCC's search system to find a document on any subject at all.  Try to find out from the Department of State how much liquor you can legally bring into the US from an overseas trip (answer:  it depends...).  Or find the hearing schedule for Congress on any given day (hint: skip the Congressional pages and go to C-Span's web site).  The people deserve better than this, but it will take planning, commitment, and a steady CTO to achieve it.
3. Bringing order to the government technology procurement system.  Letting every agency choose what they want has left the government with a series of expensive, proprietary solutions that often don't work.  From the new computer system for the FBI to the antique systems in the Treausry Department, there needs to be a better job of procurement policy and oversight throughout the government.
4. FInally, assessing the technologies and issue technical guidance so those within the government who are not geeks by nature will have some idea what is out here in the real world and how it can be used.  Keeping pace with evolving technology is a full-time job, and most servants of the people just don't have time to keep on top of it while still doing their full-time jobs.  A CTO could help.

All that being said, neither the president nor the American people will be well-served if the person selected to become the government's CTO is simply another political hack with an agenda.  If you want the position to be effective, it has to be clean.  Or at least as clean as any federal appointment can be.

That automatically rules out just about any of the executives from Google, Microsoft, the major telecom companies, the major cable companies or Cisco Systems.  Fortunately, there are still lots of excellent choices available from within the ranks of technology who won't come to Washington with an axe to grind or an agenda to push. 

Personally, I would opt for someone who is a little skeptical of the current wars over Internet governance.  Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, for example.  Or Declan McCullough over at CNet.  Or even David Young at Verizon. None of these would want to take the job, which is another reason why they would be well suited for the task.

Whoever is chosen as the government's CTO, and whatever the final job description, I wish them Godspeed and good luck.  It's a tough job that desperately needs doing.