Obama To Name CTO

Posted by K.C. Jones on January 5, 2009 03:16 PM

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama could name a CTO as early as Wednesday, but some people in the technology sector have complained about how long that has taken.

In an industry driven by creators of the technology that allows millions of Americans to access information about everything in seconds, it's not surprising that people expect quick decisions. Many are eager to see the impact of the nation's first CTO selected by its first president and political candidate to release a comprehensive technology agenda on the campaign trail.

If it does happen this week, 14 months will have passed from the time it was obvious that the nation's next leader would place technology high on his agenda until that leader actually names a CTO implement his ideas. That does seems like a long time to wait, except when you consider everything else that's on Obama's plate.

It made sense, given the severity of America's economic problems, to choose the head of the Commerce Department first. And, now that Obama's choice for that post has declined to pursue confirmation, I wouldn't blame the next administration if they chose to deal with that issue first.

However, it seems that Obama still plans to move forward with his CTO pick this week. And that's good news -- not just for those in the technology industry, who seem to be most interested in the decision, but also for the millions of Americans who will benefit from Obama's plan to use technology for open government and to help solve the rest of the problems that we face.