
Who Should Be CTO of the USA? - jasonlbaptiste
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/20/who-should-be-cto-of-the-usa/
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Alex3917
If Lessig doesn't want the job then Obama should give it to Rod Beckstrom and
then have Bruce Schneier replace Beckstrom as head of the National Cyber
Security Center. Giving someone the position just because they're famous for
inventing a piece of technology is a terrible idea. Schneier would be a much
better pick for NCSC because not only is his expertise in security, but he is
really good at selling his ideas and motivating average users to get behind
best practices. Beckstrom on the other hand is highly intelligent, competent,
and intellectually curious, but he isn't really a security expert. He would
however be an excellent candidate for national CTO.

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LPTS
Bruce Schneier would be a fantastic choice. He should be offered whatever high
level position he thinks he could do the most good with, and be given the
freedom to do things right. Can you imagine how much more sane things would
be?

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scudco
All the other bureaucratic positions made out of thin air have worked out so
well for the American people so far that I just can't wait to have my life
more regulated in new and interesting ways. How exciting! I'm always so happy
when we finally give power to a single individual to let us know the best way
to spend other people's money. Life is so complicated with people arguing over
better ways to do things with their products and services and all that
rubbish. I'm genuinely looking forward to VictoryOS and the new VictoryBook
laptop that the Ministry of Technology has in store for us. They will likely
be leagues ahead of all the other horribly sub-par technologies we're forced
to put up with today.

Personally, I think our new Chief Tyranny Officer should be someone who has
the following qualities:

    
    
      - extensive experience forcing other people to do their bidding
      - no regard for civil liberties
      - a deeply flawed understanding of technology
      - passionate interest in maintaining and extending her power
      - desire to get filthy rich by propping up companies and providing subsidies to suffering industries
    

Well I guess we can just put about every name of Congress and the Senate in a
hat. In fact let me just reflect that it is truly amazing to think that we
live in a time when almost all our representatives share such patriotic
qualities. 2009 is going to be great!

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pg
Peter Norvig would be good.

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jackchristopher
That's a lot of horsepower.

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staunch
Vint Cerf seems far too academic. I doubt he'd be able to bulldoze the
bureaucracy the way Gates could. Most of the other obvious choices would have
the same problem. I think you'd have to be a bit ruthless to make any real
progress. Eric Schmidt could probably do it, but not as well as Gates.

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akd
I agree with all of this, but I don't think Gates will accept the job. He's
very committed to his foundation, which is a much bigger opportunity for
large-scale benefit to billions of people than CTO of the USA.

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mhartl
My money's on Marc Andreessen:

<http://blog.pmarca.com/2008/03/an-hour-and-a-h.html>

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mattmaroon
Not a bad call, but my guess is he's not available.

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handelaar
If you can spare her, Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington.

She was a VP (if my memory's correct) and in charge of developer relations at
Real when I remember talking to her about ten years ago. And she's been a US
senator for a while now, which probably gives her a more direct understanding
of "how a bill becomes a law" than most.

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mjnaus
Is USA the new Google killer?

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ksvs
Looks like it:

[http://finance.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chd...](http://finance.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=Linear&chdeh=0&chdet=1224554816546&chddm=50048&q=NASDAQ:GOOG&ntsp=0)

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bigthboy
I'd vote for myself if I could, I'd love to do it! However, looking past the
Nanoscopic chance of that happening, I would have to say Bill Gates. Gates,
while aging, is a powerful and loud person when it comes to the use of
technology in a modern society. He understands not only the needs but the
potential for technology in our world. Unfortunately, Microsoft being the
mammoth it is, you haven't seen him much able to maneuver it over the past few
years.

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wheels
Sen. Ted Stevens

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nihilocrat
Definitely the best choice for Chief Tubes Officer.

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prakash
Vint Cerf/ Bill Gates

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elidourado
No one.

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laut
So they want some central planner to dictate technology in the "land of the
free"... ha!

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MaysonL
Yeah - think of it as ARPA on steroids. Remember ARPA?

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known
Stallman.

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kirubakaran
+1 I want him to be the President :-)

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jasonlbaptiste
vint cerf gets my vote

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bayareaguy
Bruce Schneier

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MaysonL
Amory Lovins.

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bigbang
Peter Thiel

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azharcs
Actually Peter Thiel would be a good choice, Who better to be the CTO of USA
than a Libertarian.

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ca98am79
And a Singularitarian!

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ca98am79
Warren Buffet, of course

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robg
Woz

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Allocator2008
It should be someone who is largely retired, like a Cinnenatus kind of person,
so, for example, not Steve Balmer. He is awesome as ceo of microsoft, and the
world would be poorer for it, were he to go elsewhere, in my opinion. This job
is not even that technical - just trying to increase access to broadband, and
advising on "green tech" issues. More a job for a marketing type than a super-
technical type.

