FCW Insider: More talk about Obama's CTO

A deputy chief technology officer, drawn from the ranks of career executives, makes perfect sense, says one reader.

Bob Greeves, a long-time member of the federal IT community, proposed the idea last week, saying that person "would provide stability during transitions and changes of political CTO's (that normally change at the rate of one every 18 months or so)." (Read more about it here.)

"As usual, Bob Greeves is right on target," the reader responded. "A career deputy CTO will make the newly appointed political CTO more effective by having someone at hand, loyal to him/her, who knows the career power structure (no oxymoron intended) and how to get things done."

Meanwhile, here's another perspective on the CTO, from Andrew McAfee, a blogger and associate professor at Harvard Business School (who graced FCW's cover a year ago -- read the Q&A)

"This is one of those brilliant ideas that seems glaringly obvious in retrospect -- of course the most technically advanced, innovative, and computer intensive economy on the planet should have a high-ranking official in the federal government dedicated to technology issues! Why haven’t we had one since the dawn of the mainframe, PC, or Internet Eras? Still, much better late than never."

Read McAfee's complete blog post.

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