At yesterday’s CEA Digital Downtown in New York I had the opportunity to attend the keynote by Aneesh Chopra, newly confirmed White House CTO and Associate Director for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
In one of his first public speeches Chopra laid out his plans for integrating technology as one of the core components in public policy decision making. “America has always been perceived as one of the global capitals for innovation” said Chopra. “We make policy decisions every day…embedded in all of those there is a place to use technological innovation.”
Chopra talked about the massive levels of bandwidth being used by rich internet applications, video and mobile phones today saying that the average PDA uses 30x the bandwidth of a typical phone. As a case in point Chopra told a story about how he uses a lot more bandwidth now that he spends the week in DC away from his wife and two young children and keeps up via picture mail.
In discussing today’s transition to digital TV Chopra described it as an example of how technology is facilitating direct communication with the government. The initial delay was the right move he said, since January the number of unready households has been cut in half.
Today they have “all hands on deck” with a call center (1-888-CALL-FCC) and Americorps volunteers going door to door. DTV he said is a perfect example of the power of technological innovation. ” We can deliver better TV with less spectrum and do other things with that available spectrum.”
And Chopra laid out his 4 Pillars which comprise his innovation platfrom to address the President’s public policy priorities:
1. Harness the power of technological innovation for economic growth.
2. Use technology in several key areas that are key to long term growth namely healthcare, reducing our dependence on foreign oil and education.
3. Ensure the security and reliability of the infrastructure across which information flows while maintaining a platform for economic growth.
4. Bring the concept of retail 2.0 to government; finding innovative ways to make government more efficient.
Chopra said he would create a scorecard based on these four pillars and would track his progress on a scorecard and by blogging regular updates. As the former Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia he urged those working in technology to “embrace the spirit of Commonwealth” to enhance the common good.
The state of Virginia for example recently had a contest for iPhone developers to create applications designed to improve chronically poor algebra skills. Chopra cited Google’s 20% time and urged developers to in their spare time identify the learning gaps and to create applications simply for the common good.
According to Chopra the Government has historically worked with the technology industry in two ways: through R&D (research grants etc) and procurement which has created an “innovation grey area in the middle.” He hopes to be an advocate for technology in areas where it can make government more efficient, something this country has had a need for for a very long time.