5 steps to more effective CTOs

What: A Professional Services Council report on agency chief technology officers and the federal CTO.

Why: Most federal agencies now have a CTO, but the role varies widely in terms of both responsibilities and reporting structures.  There is no statutory requirement for the job, as there is for agency CIOs, and the CTO community lacks a formal structure for encouraging inter-agency collaboration. PSC researchers interviewed current and former CTOs, and developed five recommendations for maximizing their effectiveness in government:

1. All agencies should designate a CTO and give that official the authority to drive change.

2. Establish an "explicit working relationship" between CTOs and their agency CIOs.

3. Move the U.S. CTO position from the Office of Science and Technology Policy to the Office of Management and Budget, working for the federal CIO.

4. Establish a CTO Council.

5. Only consider CTO legislation "if it will help empower agency CTOs as innovation agents."

Verbatim: 

"As one CTO remarked, their job is 'not to do actual innovation, but instead to do the hard changes that will make a difference over the long haul.' This coordination and standardization work more often focuses on mission technology rather than back office IT."

Click here to read the full report.