ObamaCTO.org

Micah Sifry writes:

While much of the tech industry and blogosphere is pondering who President-elect Barack Obama might appoint as the nation's first Chief Technology Officer--Eric Schmidt? Jeff Bezos? Larry Lessig?--a bunch of heavy-hitting public interest groups in Washington and a couple of civic-minded techies out in Seattle have each launched promising interventions in the discussion.

The first one, out yesterday, is a new site called ObamaCTO.org. The site is basically a feedback forum centered on one question: What should be the CTO's top priorities?

ObamaCTO is built on Uservoice, which enables anyone to create an account, post their own idea, comment on any idea, and distribute up to 10 votes to help rank all the ideas posted. ObamaCTO.org just went live, so the number of participants is pretty small, but my guess is it will get a lot of participation soon. Some of the ideas being posted aren't really the responsibility of a potential CTO, however, and it's not clear how the site's managers will filter those out.

Obama's CTO: Never Mind Who; What Should S/he Do? (techpresident.com)

[#1 posted by ClintonD , November 12, 2008 6:04 PM]

So, what are the odds on "TRUCKNUTZ FOR ALL" getting the top spot?

For those who don't know: http://wonkette.com/404325/american-people-give-republican-party-major-responsibility-big-ale-on-truck-nutz

[#2 posted by Bill , November 12, 2008 7:08 PM]

otc?

[#3 posted by Bennessy , November 12, 2008 7:38 PM]

He should appoint the classhole.

[#4 posted by Olorwen , November 12, 2008 8:08 PM]

Bennessy: I was thinking the same thing.

[#5 posted by Johnny Cat , November 12, 2008 8:40 PM]

Wow, CLINTOND, thanks for reminding me why the Repub base is so wrong. So very, very wrong.

[#6 posted by Johnny Cat , November 12, 2008 8:47 PM]

Augh, after reading the comments there, I see what they did. Didn't Stern do something similar by having mass voters tell People magazine that Crackhead Bob was the Sexiest Man Alive?

[#7 posted by Anonymous , November 12, 2008 9:12 PM]

The US Government already has a CTO: the Director of the National Science Foundation. That position has existed since 1950 when the NSF was created.

The Director of the NSF is confirmed by the Senate, is the President's chief adviser on science and technology, and currently administers a budget of $6 Billion.

[#8 posted by Antinous , November 12, 2008 9:18 PM]

currently administers a budget of $6 Billion

Roughly equivalent to Washington lobbyists' lunch budget for a week. That's pretty depressing.

[#9 posted by Rosindust89 , November 12, 2008 10:06 PM]

I'd like to see Ted Stevens get the job. The internet is a series of tubes, after all...

[#10 posted by jjasper , November 13, 2008 5:34 AM]

Steve Wozniak for sec of education.

[#11 posted by gobo , November 13, 2008 6:22 AM]

As much as I'd love to see Larry Lessig become CTO, he's moved away from his tech focus into fighting political corruption. I don't think he'd want the job.

[#12 posted by T0AD , November 13, 2008 7:54 AM]

I want net neutrality to come but will Government imposed Net Neutrality lead the government to impose worse things in the future ie censorship.

[#13 posted by cryptique , November 13, 2008 9:13 AM]

One of my votes went to "Unleash Godzilla on an unsuspecting public."