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Monday, October 20, 2008 9:44 AM/EST
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A speculative short list of candidates for the job of national CTO.
The economic crisis has since made it certain that a White House CTO would become one of Obama's most important advisers, should he triumph in November. "Obama sees greater broadband penetration as an enormous economic engine, much like the railroads were a century ago," says Andrew D. Lipman, a veteran communications lawyer in Washington. "That is why the CTO will play such a critical role in any recovery plan."
Among the candidates who would be considered for the job, say Washington insiders, are Vint Cerf, Google's (GOOG) "chief internet evangelist," who is often cited as one of the fathers of the Internet; Microsoft (MSFT) chief executive officer Steve Ballmer; Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeffrey Bezos; and Ed Felten, a prominent professor of computer science and public affairs at Princeton University. Previously: Cerf discusses national technology policy and the role of a CTO; the Obama proposal. |
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Comments (5)
Is this really a problem that Washington needs to solve? We are the most advanced (large) country in the world as a result of market forces. Any attempt by Washington to set direction is almost certain to be very expensive, possibly in the wrong direction, and definitely used to benefit one of the political parties.
Bigger and Bigger government, in anything but defense, is not a solution.
Posted by Gary | October 21, 2008 8:43 AM
All the people you suggest have full time jobs, why not Bill Gates who may have some free time for his country.
Posted by Tom Philpott | October 21, 2008 9:35 AM
Gary, I urge your to read the linked post citing Vint Cerf, who in fact does not want a highly-centralized model but does see value in the idea if properly constructed.
I'll leave for another day any arguments with your assertions that free markets alone built this country, and that we are the "most advanced" country.
Posted by Ed Cone | October 21, 2008 10:03 AM
Any attempt to create a government CTO would just be bigger government with a biased push. Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, HP, and Google are examples of the companies expanding the "new railroad". The White House is not.
Posted by David | October 21, 2008 10:34 AM
The Fairness Doctrine and "National CTO" job are ways of stifling free speech. Just think....what a GREAT idea (NOT)...the government will now controls the internet too. Watch your rights to free speech dwindle with OBAMA in office. Control the media, control the internet, control the knowledge....control YOU!
Old equation....just new clueless noob voters.
Posted by Karl Marx | October 21, 2008 12:49 PM