Today, Aneesh Chopra, US Chief Technology Officer and Associate Director for Technology for the White House, spoke at a forum held by TiE, an entrepreneurship organization based in Silicon Valley. Chopra was joined by a panel of Silicon Valley execs and VCs, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Chopra made his debut to Silicon Valley a few weeks ago at the Churchill Club, addressing the future of innovation and Federal investments in technology.
Chopra outlined the Federal government’s technology agenda, calling attention to the challenges the government faces. He says that in terms of innovation, the U.S. has a lot of room for improvement. The government recently did a survey of where countries rank as innovators over the past decade. The U.S. ranked dead last in the rate at which innovation sped up over the past ten years, according to Chopra’s data. In the area of e-government options, the U.S. ranked last as well.
The role of the US CTO is to invest in innovation, including smart and secure infrastructure (i.e. cybersecurity, broadband access), and increase R&D collaboration by focusing on university and entrepreneurship for new product developments. The Federal government spends $150 billion on research dollars in universities—Chopra wants to make sure these investments are efficient. Chopra says that post-doctoral fellows are particularly useful to helping with innovation and suggests that businesses begin fellowship opportunities for innovation. He is also promoting innovation around other priorities in the government’s agenda, such as health care, education and the smart grid.
Heath care IT is an issue that’ particularly high on the agenda, with Chopra working to implement regulatory framework, open data standards, and an ecosystem for continued product innovation in the space. The smart grid is also a concern for the US CTO, and is helping accelerate energy efficiency initiatives and ensure that cybersecurity is at a high level.
And one of Chopra’s primary roles is to develop an open government initiative, which will implement government platforms that will be transparent and collaborative (i.e. Data.gov). For example, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service launched a new customer service that lets applicants get updates on the status of applications online and via e-mail and text messages.
Steve Wozniak thinks that its important to harvest intelligence; he suggests that the government should do this via games. The Woz also highlighted the importance of cyber security and technology in education, concluding that “education is being shafted.”
If I’m reading this correctly, the U.S. gov’t wants U.S. citizens and companies to implement more technology into our lives.
Don’t you think some of the bottle neck is the monopoly by the internet suppliers like Comcast and Verizon?
U.S. users of the internet probably pay more than many parts of the developed world. But, we have some of the slowest speeds.
The internet is a significant and strategic part of implementing more technology into our lives.
And, the U.S. govt’ wants to give up the right to oversee the organization that controls the internet – Icann. I believe that will be decided by the end of the month.
I have a feeling the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.
+1
he’s not “The” Woz, just Woz.
Guy deserves some respect with “The”? Nah?
From the article:
“The Woz also highlighted the importance of cyber security and technology in education, concluding that “education is being shafted.”
“The Woz”…. ROTFLOL…. Oh, man! This is stupid…
With all due respect he is not the “WoZ” any more, he is “Was”. Out of tech for a long long time and don’t see the relevance of dwelling on him
Good one that!!!! ROFL…
+1 for this one and many more to come
Steve rightly mentions that the harvesting of intelligence should happen from a game like fun environment… Games are a fun way of learning complex subject matter.
does anybody believe that the US is dead last in innovation? I just don’t believe it. The only reason why its possible is that people in the US tend to want or are geared toward working for someone else as opposed to owning our own business
You have got to be kidding me. Americans are some of the most Entrepreneurial folk around. If you’re suggesting Indians and Chinese are more Entrepreneurial, you are dead wrong. How many Indian/Chinese parents let their kids to be something other than Doctors and Engineers?
Exactly.
Some of us asians (*cough* not all east asians are chinese *cough*) chose engineering because we liked it.
WTF!!! Most start-ups in Silicon Valley are FOUNDED by Indians or Chinese. It’s just lucky that they chose to live in USA (at least for now).
Any word if John Dvorak was in attendance?
Let’s go to Silicon Valley.
This guy is a big fraud. This guy and buddy Vivek Kundra both belong to US India Political Action Committee. The organization helped elect Tim Kaine. So Kaine helped them in turn by hiring this guy and recommending Vivek Kundra to DC Mayor Fenty for the CTO poisition.
http://www.usin.../iaf_aneesh.asp
Fenty later recommends Vivek to Obama and Vivek pulls Aneesh Chopra to Fed. Frauds !
Shame on you ! He is one of smartest person who can connect technology to policy!
He will do well of US and our President.
this guy and Kundra are poseurs, political hacks who got there, b/c they are good Democrats. i’m not saying it’s different with Republicans. you read their bkgrds and it’s no great shakes.
Hey Kumar,
Americans have a choice to become a member of anything they like.. or they want to … Aneesh Chopra is one of em… … so stop the phuck with ur controversy theory …
Kumar pisses of Harold.. isnt that phunny… fucking phunny!
Kundra seems to be one of these guys who easily impresses people who have no clue. Listen to this TWIT podcast and make up your own mind. Cut ahead to the 1:29:30 mark in the audio.
http://www.podt...t/TWiT0209H.mp3
I listen to it. Yea, this Kundra doesn’t seem too bright. The hosts picked it up, too.
Look, the government is POLITICAL, not open. It can never really be open.
The government is waaaaay too big and the bureaucracy will do anything and everything to protect itself and to keep getting bigger.
Giving out accurate and complete information is not high on government’s list. Sure, they’ll give out a lot of “data”, but a lot of it will be unavailable.
Anyone who believe otherwise should do some research.
Industry luminaries like Woz who have been there at the beginning, making it all happen, are global treasures. You keep them around in view because they were insightful then, in a world-transforming way, and they just might have something still to say if you were to step on your lip for a moment and listen.
Ok, so the guy couldn’t drive particularly well. But he was insanely innovative and he sure as hell knew how to throw a party.
– Old Apple employee from ‘way back then.
Let the conversation go on.