Government Technology - January 2009 - (Page 40)

Vivek Kundra CTO of Washington, D.C., is considered one of government’s most forward-thinking IT leaders. Why he’s on the national CTO short list: ✓ inked a deal with Google that will provide the company’s Internet-based e-mail, spreadsheet and word-processing applications to all 38,000 district employees; ✓ uses YouTube video and performance metrics to improve transparency of city government operations; and ✓ created an innovative “stock market” model for managing and evaluating IT projects. project is on time, on budget and is delivering value — and decide whether we are going to hold on to the project, invest more or kill the project. It’s similar to what investment portfolios would do as far as sell, buy or hold. That’s brought in a lot of scrutiny and has moved us aggressively in terms of killing projects that won’t deliver.” Clearly Kundra would be a voice for innovation. His use of low-cost Web 2.0 applications to increase government transparency could appeal to the tech-savvy Obama. And Kundra’s focus on efficiency and results certainly fits the current economic climate. Kundra also knows his way around government bureaucracy. Prior to joining the district’s government, he was assistant secretary of commerce and technology for Virginia. Before that, he was director of infrastructure technology for Arlington, Va., with a few private-industry stops in between. bandwidth and applications — and Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6), which would dramatically expand the number of available Internet addresses. Obama supported Net neutrality legislation as a U.S. senator and has said he would back such a measure as president. “I believe that the economic energy behind the [Internet] has been aided by a very open kind of environment where standards are openly available; any platform is free to implement these standards, and then access the Internet,” Cerf told Government Technology in a late 2007 interview. “I’m worried that the U.S. government, or other governments around the world, may fail to fully understand how important that openness is to the economic benefit of the network. In the absence of a regime which preserves that openness, the Internet could easy move into a very constrained mode, which makes it look more like cable television. Personally I don’t think that’s a good thing.” That view extends to the wireless world, where wireless providers currently dictate which applications are available their subscribers. “If you have a device that’s capable of doing Internet, it should be able to use any Internet service. If it’s capable of using the Internet at all, you should be able to download new applications and run them,” Cerf said. “In the wireless world, that isn’t the case. The platforms, even when they’re Internet enabled, are not open in the sense that you may not be able to download a new application unless the wireless provider agrees and puts it on the platform for you.” Cerf also is working with NASA on Disruption-Tolerant Networking (DTN) technology, which would be used to provide Internet-like communications for spacecraft and planetary outposts. The so-called Interplanetary Internet — which passed its first deep-space test in November — is designed to withstand the delays and disruptions inherent when communicating across interplanetary distances. Vint Cerf chief Internet evangelist for Google, is considered a father of the Internet for his role in developing the TCP/IP architecture in the 1970s. Why he’s on the national CTO short list: ✓ working with NASA on disruption-tolerant networking technology, which would be used to create an Interplanetary Internet; ✓ proponent of Net neutrality legislation and open wireless platforms; and ✓ keen observer of Internet trends and demographics. Father of the Internet Cerf’s government credentials aren’t as solid, but as a researcher, he’s worked extensively with the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies. And Cerf understands Internet technology perhaps better than anyone else out there. Often called a father of the Internet, he co-developed the Internet’s basic architecture in the 1970s. More recently, Cerf has been a vocal proponent of Net neutrality legislation — which is designed to ensure equal access to Internet JAN_09 30 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - January 2009

Government Technology - January 2009 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Stemming the Retirement Tide Getting the Picture Fact of Matter Money Trail Rays the Roof Trick or Tweet? The Modern Way to Vote Products signal:noise

Government Technology - January 2009

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