The incoming Obama administration is soon expected to name a Federal chief technology officer to act as a central figure to ensure that the government and its agencies have the right technologies and services for the 21st century.
There has been a lot of speculation around who that person might be – such names as Bill Gates and Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig have been floated for the post. The Obama administration has also outlined a full slate of initiatives for the CTO to undertake, everything from seeing true broadband delivered throughout the nation to investing as much as $10 billion a year in electronic healthcare information systems.
To be sure, there are high expectations for the new CTO, and that will require an individual who not only understands IT but who can excel at building relationships between governments and agencies with often competing agendas.
"They're going to need somebody who has experience in leadership, technology and business management," says Robert Otto, head of the advisory services division for Agilex Technologies, a consulting company based in Chantilly, Va. "The CTO has to have skills that are at the highest level of diplomacy in working with getting Congress, the President and Cabinet officials, along with governors and their staff, to work on fulfilling the mission."
Otto knows better than most just how challenging a task it will be. He spent 38 years with the federal service before joining Agilex in October of 2007, including 27 years with the United States Postal Service (USPS). At the postal service he served as both the chief information officer and the CTO, and as such was responsible for managing one of the world's largest technology infrastructures.
In an interview with CIOZone, Otto talked about the leadership qualities the new CTO will need to bring to the role and the top priorities he or she will face. The full interview can be heard in this audiocast. Included in the interview are six technology priorities that Otto believes the CTO will need to undertake.
