Two of the federal government's leading lights have landed at Deloitte. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) is taking a high-level consulting role there and Tim Young, former Office of Management and Budget deputy administrator, will start there in January.
Davis was a leader on procurement reform issues when he served as chairman of the Government Reform Committee. He lost some of his influence when the Democrats took majority status in 2006, and chose to retire from politics this year.
Young has been an OMB leader on e-Gov efforts, working closely with Karen Evans there to propel the initiatives forward.
Deloitte did well in landing the two.
Posted by Michael Hardy on Nov 18, 2008 at 6:59 PM0 comments
Is there any chance that Health and Human Services secretary Mike Leavitt could become the Obama administration's chief technology officer? Blogger Phil Windley says no -- but thinks Leavitt would be a great choice anyway.
On his blog, Technometria, Windley makes a brief case for Leavitt: "He understands technology very well and relates it well to policy. He’d be an able spokesman. I can imagine no one better," Windley wrote. But ... Leavitt is a Republican. So completely Republican, in fact, that he could end up becoming chairman of the Republican National Committee.
(Given that Obama has expressed a willingness to cross party lines in filling his cabinet, we're not convinced that that's a deal-breaker ... but Windley seems to be.)
Windley, himself CTO at e-commerce company Kynetx, has some thoughts on what the federal CTO's role should entail.
To be qualified, you need to (1) pass the ethics tests, (2) understand how technology relates to government and the public in a wide range of areas, and (3) be a policy wonk. Items (1) and (3) disqualify most of the people who’ve been suggested.
Actually, (2) may disqualify most of the people who have been suggested too. We're not sure how someone who hasn't been in government or at least very closely connected to government for some years can meet that criterion.
Posted on Nov 18, 2008 at 6:59 PM0 comments
Amidst all the speculation about who Obama will appoint as chief technology officer, a veteran of the federal community is trying to drum up support for creating a deputy CTO -- to be filled by a career senior executive.
Bob Greeves, a former chief information officer at the Energy Department and an active member in various industry groups around town, sent out an e-mail Friday proposing the idea.
Greeves assumes, as most people do, that Obama will find a CTO outside government. Naming a career fed as deputy "would provide stability during transitions and changes of political CTO's (that normally change at the rate of one every 18 months or so)," he wrote.
Greeves even suggested two potential candidates for the job: Kshemendra Paul, chief architect at the Office of Management and Budget ("he has the background, technological capability, relationship building skills and energy to carry it off"), and Van Hitch, CIO at the Justice Department ("he is a quality CIO, the dean of federal CIOs and has served in that capacity for many years"). He has worked with both of them over the years.
Greeves is hoping to get some support for the idea from the federal media, ACT/IAC and the Senior Executives Association. A contractor to Justice for the last 10 years, he is careful to note that this initiative is his alone and that he is not speaking for his employer.
Posted by John S. Monroe on Nov 17, 2008 at 6:59 PM0 comments
We have no idea who president-elect Barack Obama is considering to fill the new federal chief technology officer role that he has pledged to create.
We do know that Dan Chenok, former branch chief for information policy and technology in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), had to withdraw suddenly from an upcoming seminar for reasons he couldn't disclose. Some sources tell us he's been asked to stay out of the public eye for now.
Chenok, now senior vice president and general manager of Pragmatics, could not be reached for comment. Actually, he is probably not a likely CTO pick, with his policy background. But generally, when affable and talkative former federal officials suddenly need to stay quiet for a bit right as a new president is moving into the Oval Office, there's a reason that goes beyond sudden shyness.
Posted by Michael Hardy on Nov 17, 2008 at 6:59 PM0 comments