Now that Barack Obama has won the election, people are taking his call for a national CTO seriously.

Venture cap honcho John Doerr suggests former Sun bigwig Bill Joy. Responding to a question from Obama (forwarded by a reporter), Doerr said, "The most important thing he's got to do is kick-start a huge amount of research and innovation in energy." Also: double the number of engineering graduates, and restore DARPA to its former glory.

More suggestions here and here.

A conversation with Vint Cerf - one of the names bandied about as a contender for the job -- about a national CTO and national technology policy here.