A larger emphasis on technology in government is necessary for progress

During a visit to the tech hub that is Silicon Valley, Barack Obama, the biggest geek to hit the White House since Al Gore, touted a new position in White House if he were elected: Chief Technology Officer. But with the economic state of our country still volatile, the little-known CTO appointment seemed irrelevant.

Au contraire; it is very relevant if we want to regain our economic strength and be competitive again in a continually globalizing world.

Obama should be actively searching for a person to fill this role immediately. There has been speculation surrounding appointments of Vint Cerf, Google’s “Chief Internet Evangelist,” Amazon CEO Jeffrey Bezos, and Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. The difficulty lies in choosing someone who is skilled in the technology field, but also has administrative abilities.

While the specifics of the job have not been revealed, Obama’s “Blueprint For Change” briefly outlined this completely new CTO’s role to “ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century.” If you’ve ever visited a government site, you will be immediately reminded of the simple sites made in the ’90s. Beneath the antiquated sites is the seemingly anachronistic way of manually filing data and records. This is probably why the Sept. 11 hijackers were issued green cards even as the FBI was investigating them.

However, this CTO role is vital to all areas, not just to Web sites and digitizing records. The CTO would not only exist to improve efficiency of the government’s use of technology, but also evaluate how our country’s economy can benefit from investment in technology infrastructure and research and development. Whether the CTO position will be a cabinet-level position or an advisory role is critical in defining the direction of technology in Washington.

This year, the United States was ranked 15th out of 30 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a ranking determined by broadband development, speed and price. The U.S.’s rank has been falling since 2001 ““ no coincidence that George W. Bush took office that year. This is pathetic for the country that has innovated countless technologies. When the government invests in science and technology, as it did with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, our country produces great things: namely, the Internet. Not only would a stronger emphasis on technology fuel innovation, it would create more jobs ““ something much needed given that the current unemployment rate is 7.2 percent, the highest since 1993.

It’s clear than that the nations who make broadband a priority by integrating across agencies and putting resources behind the plan succeed more than those that don’t. In South Korea and Japan, government support was pivotal to its broadband success. In Japan, the chairman of the Information Technology Strategy Council outlined a plan to make Japan the “world’s leading IT nation” by 2005. They succeeded. New technology emerges from serious research and serious research needs government backing.

This emphasis on technology is not new to our president-elect, whose campaign capitalized on the social networking capabilities of the Internet. Anyone can submit policy ideas to his campaign Web site and the change.gov Web site set up for his transition to the White House. Changes like these are what Washington needs. Washington needs to be more like the Internet: accessible, fast, and transparent.

Life, inclusive of technology, politics, and everything else, is a beta ““ it can only get better. The future of technology and access to information need to go in the right direction, one that squanders apathy and resolves human conflict. That starts with appointing the right person for this new CTO position and making sure that the US takes advantage of the technology at our feet.

E-mail Tran at [email protected]. Send general comments to [email protected].