A Federal Chief Technology Officer in the
Obama Administration: Options and Issues
for Consideration
John F. Sargent Jr.
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy
January 7, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R40150
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress
A Federal Chief Technology Officer in the Obama Administration: Options and Issues
Summary
In November 2007, Senator Barack Obama announced his intention, if elected president, to
appoint a federal chief technology officer (CTO). He also identified several specific areas of
responsibility of the CTO including transparency of government operations, computer and
network security (sometimes referred to as cybersecurity), identification and adoption of best
technologies and practices by federal agencies, and interoperability of emergency
communications technologies for first responders.
On April 18, 2009, President Obama appointed Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh P.
Chopra to serve in the newly created position of federal chief technology officer. In announcing
the appointment, the president indicated that Mr. Chopra would undertake roles beyond what
might be considered traditional CTO responsibilities. As the president described them, these roles
include promoting technological innovation to help the United States create jobs, reduce health
care costs, protect the homeland, and address other national goals. Mr. Chopra serves as assistant
to the president and chief technology officer, as well as associate director for technology in the
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Under a provision of Executive Order
13500, issued on February 5, 2009, he also serves as a member of the White House Domestic
Policy Council in his capacity as assistant to the president and CTO.
The CTO may face a variety of challenges in executing the mission envisioned by the President.
Among the early challenges will be negotiating domains of responsibilities within the White
House and with executive branch agencies that have overlapping missions. Some commentators
have expressed concerns about the impact the creation of a CTO might have on existing offices
and agencies with respect to the allocation and coordination of authorities and responsibilities.
Other commentators have asserted that a high-level CTO could serve as an advocate for
technological innovation and foster increased knowledge sharing among federal agencies to more
effectively implement information technology solutions to meet disparate mission requirements.
Mr. Chopra’s appointment as both CTO and associate director for technology at OSTP may
address, in part, questions related to mission alignment, coordination, and integration. Since
assuming his dual roles, Mr. Chopra has publicly engaged in discussions covering a wide range of
technology policy-related areas, including research and development, innovation, open
government, government performance, education, science and engineering workforce, health care
information technology, broadband, patent reform, and net neutrality.
Congress faces President Obama’s appointment of Mr. Chopra and the president’s stated plans for
the federal CTO. There is currently no formal position description for the CTO. Accordingly, the
official duties of the CTO remain largely undefined. Congress may elect to provide a statutory
foundation for the CTO, define the roles and authorities of the CTO, authorize and appropriate
funds, provide for oversight, and address other aspects of the position.
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A Federal Chief Technology Officer in the Obama Administration: Options and Issues
Contents
Overview .................................................................................................................................... 1
Background ................................................................................................................................ 1
Potential Scope of Duties and Authorities.................................................................................... 2
Organizational Precedents ........................................................................................................... 4
Agency CIOs, CTOs, and the Chief Information Officers Council (CIO Council) .................. 5
CIO, CTO, and e-Government Positions at OMB .................................................................. 6
National Performance Review/National Partnership for Reinventing Government ................. 7
Department of Commerce Technology Administration........................................................... 8
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy ......................................................... 9
Potential Challenges.................................................................................................................. 10
CTO Structure and Activities in the Obama Administration ....................................................... 11
Issues for Consideration by Congress ........................................................................................ 14
Contacts
Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 15
Congressional Research Service
A Federal Chief Technology Officer in the Obama Administration: Options and Issues
Overview
In November 2007, Senator Barack Obama announced his intention, if elected president, to
appoint a federal chief technology officer (CTO). On April 18, 2009, President Obama appointed
Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh P. Chopra to serve as “America’s Chief Technology
Officer.”1
Mr. Chopra serves as assistant to the president and CTO, and holds the position of associate
director for technology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.2 In his
capacity as assistant to the president and CTO, Mr. Chopra also serves as a member of the White
House Domestic Policy Council under a provision of Executive Order 13500 (amending
Executive Order 12859) issued by President Obama on February 5, 2009.3 In announcing the
appointment of Mr. Chopra, President Obama broadly defined the role of the CTO as promoting
“technological innovation to help achieve our most important priorities—from creating jobs and
reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure.”4
This paper presents President Obama’s vision for the CTO position put forth during his campaign
for the presidency and during the presidential transition. It also discusses the potential scope of
duties and authorities of the CTO, articulates organizational precedents and challenges for the
CTO, reviews some of the activities undertaken by Aneesh Chopra during his tenure as CTO, and
identifies issues Congress may choose to consider if it opts to exert oversight or to develop
legislation to create the position and/or office of the CTO.
Background
In 2008, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign issued a position paper on the issue of
technology and innovation which included the following description of the role envisioned for a
CTO:
Bring Government into the 21st Century: Barack Obama will use technology to reform
government and improve the exchange of information between the federal government and
citizens while ensuring the security of our networks. Obama believes in the American people
and in their intelligence, expertise, and ability and willingness to give and to give back to
make government work better.
Obama will appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to ensure that our
government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st
century. The CTO will ensure the safety of our networks and will lead an interagency effort,
1 Remarks of President Barack Obama, Weekly Address, April 18, 2009, The White House, available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Weekly-Address-President-Obama-Discusses-Efforts-to-Reform-
Spending-Government-Waste-Names-Chief-Performance-Officer-and-Chief-Technology-Officer/
2 Personal communication with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, April 20, 2009.
3 “Federal Register,” Executive Order 13500, February 5, 2009, vol. 74, no. 27 (February 11, 2009), p. 6981.
4 Remarks of President Barack Obama, Weekly Address, April 18, 2009, The White House, available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Weekly-Address-President-Obama-Discusses-Efforts-to-Reform-
Spending-Government-Waste-Names-Chief-Performance-Officer-and-Chief-Technology-Officer/.
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A Federal Chief Technology Officer in the Obama Administration: Options and Issues
working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies,
to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices.
The CTO will have a specific focus on transparency, by ensuring that each arm of the federal
government makes its records open and accessible as the E-Government Act requires. The
CTO will also focus on using new technologies to solicit and receive information back from
citizens to improve the functioning of democratic government.
The CTO will also ensure technological interoperability of key government functions. For
example, the Chief Technology Officer will oversee the development of a national,
interoperable wireless network for local, state and federal first responders as the 9/11
commission recommended. This will ensure that fire officials, police officers and
[emergency medical technicians] from different jurisdictions have the ability to communicate
with each other during a crisis and we do not have a repeat of the failure to deliver critical
public services that occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.5
In November 2008, President-elect Obama reiterated his intentions for the CTO on Change.gov,
the website of the Office of the President-elect:
Bring Government into the 21st Century: Use technology to reform government and improve
the exchange of information between the federal government and citizens while ensuring the
security of our networks. Appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to
ensure the safety of our networks and lead an interagency effort, working with chief
technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they
use best-in-class technologies and share best practices.6
Prior to Mr. Chopra’s appointment, details related to the CTO position remained uncertain. There
was little or no information on the specific duties and authorities of the CTO and how its
functions will be coordinated and integrated within OSTP, with other White House offices, and
with federal departments and agencies. During this period, some commentators speculated about
the range of duties and authorities the CTO may be given (see discussion on pages 3-5 of this
report). While many details remain uncertain about the CTOs role, some aspects have become
more clear as Mr. Chopra has undertaken initiatives, testified before Congress, and given
interviews (see “CTO Structure and Activities in the Obama Administration”).
Potential Scope of Duties and Authorities
A fundamental question for policymakers related to the CTO position is: What should be the
scope of duties and authorities of this position? Two broad roles for the CTO appear to have
emerged.
The first role, explicitly articulated on President Obama’s campaign and transition websites,
might be described as a supra-chief information officer with the mission of using information
technology to improve the delivery of government services, increasing transparency of
government policymaking, and opening channels for increased citizen participation in
5 Obama ’08, Barack Obama: Connecting and Empowering All Americans Through Technology and Innovation,
November 2007. Available at http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/technology/
Fact_Sheet_Innovation_and_Technology.pdf.
6 Website of the Office of the President-elect. Available at http://change.gov/agenda/technology_agenda/.
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government, as well as ensuring that the nation’s information and communications infrastructure
is robust and secure. In this capacity, the CTO would also ensure that “best practices” are
identified, shared, and implemented across agencies.
The second role for the CTO might be described as an advocate for technological innovation in
support of national interests such as economic growth, job creation, improvements to quality of
life, national defense, and homeland security. President Obama’s dual appointment of Mr. Chopra
to serve as both CTO and OSTP associate director for technology, and his statement
accompanying the selection, positioned Mr. Chopra to undertake such a role.
Prior to Mr. Chopra’s appointment, several analysts proposed a variety of roles for an Obama
administration CTO. Stanford University professor Lawrence Lessig asserted that the CTO could
play an important role in bringing an understanding of how technology might be used to address
national challenges:
The CTO could be a critically important position, from deciding how to make government
more efficient and transparent through technology, to helping advance public policy
questions like those surrounding global warming.7
The CTO could play an important role in national economic policy according to Andrew D.
Lipman, a telecommunications attorney with Bingham McCutchen, LLP. Mr. Lipman asserted
that
[President] Obama sees greater broadband penetration as an enormous economic engine,
much like the railroads were a century ago. That is why the CTO will play such a critical role
in any recovery plan.8
Ed Felten, a Princeton University professor of computer science and public affairs and director of
Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy, likewise suggested a broad role for the
CTO in innovation policy:
The CTO could act as the cybersecurity czar, ensuring that reliability of the government
infrastructure is protected. And much like the role of the presidential science advisor, the
CTO could offer advice to the President on all areas of technology. The role could be a
catalyst to push us closer to being a more entrepreneurial, high-tech country.9
The Center for American Progress (CAP) and New Democracy Project (NDP), public policy
institutes, proposed that the CTO serve as a champion for information and communications
technologies broadly. CAP/NDP proposed that the CTO be given three roles: advising the
president on the use of ICT to create a more open and efficient government; working with OSTP
to advise the president on all issues that have a critical ICT component, including economic,
national security, health care, and education policies; and helping to ensure ICT platforms
deployed across the United States are robust, broadly available, and affordable to all sectors.
CAP/NDP anticipate this latter role would “straddle the public and private sectors” to maximize
private innovation for the public good.10
7 Tom Lowry, “The Short List for U.S. Chief Technology Office,” BusinessWeek, October 19, 2008.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President, Center for American Progress and New
(continued...)
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In contrast, the Association of American Universities (AAU), an association of research
universities, recommended to President Obama that a CTO be given a more narrow role:
If a new Chief Technology Officer position is created, this individual’s responsibilities
primarily should be to oversee the use of technology within the White House and to
coordinate the use of technology within the Executive Branch.11
In addition, the AAU urged that OSTP remain the sole presidential advisor for science and
technology:
[The president should] retain a single presidential advisor for science and technology with a
strong associate director for technology and innovation.... The responsibility for coordinating
and helping to shape science and technology policy across government agencies should
remain that of the OSTP Director, as has historically been the case.12
Three factors are likely to play key roles in defining the full scope of duties and authorities of the
CTO: first, the role that President Obama wants the CTO to play (including authorities derived
from formal means, such as an executive order, and non-formal means, such as presidential
expressions of support for, and confidence in, the CTO); second, congressional oversight of any
actions by the Obama Administration; and, third, statutory duties and authorities, if any, that
Congress may elect to confer upon the position and/or office.
Further, the personal attributes of the CTO may, in part, define the role of CTO. In this regard,
Mr. Chopra served as Virginia’s Secretary of Technology where he led “the Commonwealth’s
strategy to effectively leverage technology in government reform, to promote Virginia’s
innovation agenda, and to foster technology-related economic development.”13 Previously,
Chopra served as managing director of the Advisory Board Company, a public company that
provides best practices research and analysis to the health care industry. He led the firm’s
Financial Leadership Council and the Working Council for Health Plan Executives.14
Organizational Precedents
In defining or refining the duties and authorities of the CTO, Congress and the Obama
Administration may opt to draw from the duties and authorities of existing and previous
organizational structures and positions. These could include agency-level chief information
officers (CIOs) and CTOs; the Bush Administration’s use of the. Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) to handle CIO, CTO, and e-government responsibilities; the Clinton
(...continued)
Democracy Project, November 12, 2008.
11 Policy Recommendations for President-elect Obama, Association of American Universities, December 2008,
available at http://www.aau.edu/policy/policy_recommendations_new_admin.aspx?id=7710.
12 Ibid.
13 The White House, “President Obama Discusses Efforts to Reform Spending, Government Waste; Names Chief
Performance Officer and Chief Technology Officer,” press release, April 18, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/
the_press_office/Weekly-Address-President-Obama-Discusses-Efforts-to-Reform-Spending-Government-Waste-
Names-Chief-Performance-Officer-and-Chief-Technology-Officer/.
14 Ibid; also Security and Exchange Commission annual filing, Form 10-K, Advisory Board Company, May 30, 2008,
available at http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/xml/download.php?repo=tenk&ipage=5705904&format=PDF.
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Administration’s “reinventing government” initiative; the Commerce Department’s recently-
eliminated Technology Administration and its agency predecessors; and the White House Office
of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). An overview of each is provided below.
Agency CIOs, CTOs, and the Chief Information Officers Council
(CIO Council)
As information technology began to play an increasingly important (and more costly) role in
federal agency operations and services, agencies began to appoint CIOs to manage information
technology systems and acquisitions. According to the CIO Council (discussed below) the
mandate of federal CIOs is
to ensure the rapid and effective implementation of information management and
information technology (IM/IT) solutions within each agency and to create a more results-
oriented, efficient, and citizen-centered Federal government. 15
In 1996, Congress enacted the Clinger-Cohen Act16 which, among other things, requires the
establishment of a CIO in each federal agency. The duties assigned CIOs under the act include
providing information management advice and policy to the agency head; developing,
maintaining, and facilitating information systems; and evaluating, assessing, and reporting to the
agency head on the progress made developing agency information technology systems.17
Following passage of the Clinger-Cohen Act, President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order
1301118 which directs agencies to establish the position of chief information officer to provide
clear accountability for information resources management activities; identifies the broad
responsibilities of federal agency CIOs; and establishes a federal Chief Information Officer
Council (CIO Council) chaired by the OMB deputy director for management. The CIO Council
was later codified by the E-Government Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-347), which designated it
the principal interagency forum for improving agency practices related to the design,
acquisition, development, modernization, use, operation, sharing, and performance of
Federal Government information resources.19
No parallel council exists in the federal government for CTOs, nor has Congress statutorily
defined the duties, responsibilities, and qualifications of CTOs in a manner comparable to that for
CIOs under the Clinger-Cohen Act. The position of chief technology officer first emerged in the
private sector in the 1980s. Since then, some federal agencies have established CTO positions. In
general, a CTO is responsible for monitoring, assessing, and selecting new technologies for
applications to improve an organization’s performance. Such applications of technology can be
focused on developing new products and services or on improving internal processes. Given the
ubiquitous role technology plays in most organizations today, CTOs often work with a wide
15 Chief Information Officers Council website, http://www.cio.gov.
16 Incorporated as sections D and E of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 (P.L. 104-106)
17 For additional information, see CRS Report RL34492, Reauthorization of the E-Government Act: A Brief Overview,
by Jeffrey W. Seifert. This report also provides perspectives on the anticipated benefits and drawbacks of establishing a
chief federal CIO position.
18 Executive Order 13011, “Federal Information Technology,” 61 Federal Register 37657, July 19, 1996.
19 P.L. 107-347.
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variety of stakeholders, including chief executives, scientists, engineers, research managers, and
marketing professionals.20 Generally, federal agency CTOs are responsible for developing and/or
implementing technologies that enable the agency to better perform its missions. The role of a
CTO in a federal agency can be similar to, and the title sometimes used interchangeably with, the
CIO.21 In many cases, agency CTOs report to the CIO and have a focus on information
technology. However, some CTOs have responsibility for a wider scope of technologies and
technical issues. For example, the CTO for the Department of Homeland Security’s
Transportation Security Administration is responsible for “implementation and development of
security technologies across several modes of transportation.”22
CIO, CTO, and e-Government Positions at OMB
Under President George W. Bush, the deputy director of management for OMB served as the
federal CIO, providing oversight of agency-level CIOs and coordinating e-government initiatives.
In 2001, OMB established the position of associate director for information technology and e-
government at OMB to serve as “the leading federal e-government executive,” and was given
responsibility for the e-government fund, directing the activities of the CIO Council, and advising
on the appointments of agency CIOs.23 The associate director for information technology reported
to the OMB deputy director for management. In 2002, Norman Lorentz became the first chief
technology officer at OMB, reporting to the associate director for information technology and e-
government. In this capacity, Mr. Lorentz was tasked to lead and coordinate multiple efforts to
identify and develop the technological architecture needed to support federal e-government and
other information technology initiatives.24
On April 18, 2009, President Obama announced his appointment of Jeffrey D. Zients to serve as
federal chief performance officer (CPO) and OMB deputy director for management.25 The
president previously announced his appointment of Vivek Kundra to serve as federal chief
information officer and OMB administrator for e-government and information technology.26 In
announcing the selection of Mr. Chopra, President Obama stated that the CTO would work
closely with the federal CPO and CIO “to give all Americans a voice in their government and
20 Roger D. Smith, “The Chief Technology Officer: Strategic Responsibilities and Relationships,” Research
Technology Management, July/August 2003.
21 The close linkage between the duties of a CTO and CIO is illustrated by dual assignments held in some agencies. For
example, the Department of Education, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service have CTOs who concurrently hold the title of Deputy CIO. To further illustrate the linkage, at
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the CTO is located in the Office of the Chief Information Officer.
22 Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, “TSA Names Mike Golden Chief
Technology Officer,” press release, December 11, 2006, http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2006/
press_release_12112006.shtm.
23 Office of Management and Budget, “Mark Forman Named Associate Director for Information Technology and E-
Government,” press release, 14 June 2001, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/pubpress/2001-13.html.
24 For additional information, see CRS Report RL30914, Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO): Opportunities and
Challenges, by Jeffrey W. Seifert.
25 Personal communication with the Office of Management and Budget communications office, April 21, 2009.
26 The White House, “President Obama Names Vivek Kundra Chief Information Officer,” press release, March 5,
2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Names-Vivek-Kundra-Chief-Information-
Officer/; personal communication with the Office of Management and Budget communications office, April 21, 2009.
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ensure that they know exactly how we’re spending their money – and can hold us accountable for
the results.”27
National Performance Review/National Partnership for Reinventing
Government
The Clinton Administration’s National Performance Review (NPR)/National Partnership for
Reinventing Government (also known as the reinventing government initiative or ReGo) had
certain functions similar to ones outlined for a CTO in President Obama’s campaign document. In
March 1993, President Bill Clinton announced the establishment of the NPR under Vice President
Al Gore “to make the entire Federal Government both less expensive and more efficient ... [and
to search for] ways to improve services to our citizens and to make our Government work better
... [in part through] better uses of technology.”28 Information technology was one of the tools used
to achieve these ends. In 1998, the NPR was renamed the “National Partnership for Reinventing
Government” reflecting the administration’s intent to shift from “review” to “reinvention,” with
an emphasis on the use of information technology to transform government operations.29 In
January 2001, the E-Gov website reported
The National Partnership for Reinventing [Government] urged agencies to use information
technology and the Internet to transform how citizens interact with government. Reinvention
evolved into e-gov and the goal was to provide better access to government services. Today
e-gov is putting people “online, not in line.” By the end of 2000, nearly 40 million
Americans were doing business with the government electronically. On a regular basis,
people are accessing information to solve problems themselves through the Internet, via
telephones, and through neighborhood kiosks.30
Organizationally, the director of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government served as
senior policy advisor to Vice President Gore.31
Among ReGo’s technology-focused efforts were Access America, which sought the “integration
of services across different federal agencies so citizens [could] ‘custom-tailor’ government to
their specific needs,” and G-Gov, the use of geographic information and information technology
to improve government services.32
27 The White House, “President Obama Discusses Efforts to Reform Spending, Government Waste; Names Chief
Performance Officer and Chief Technology Officer,” press release, April 18, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/
the_press_office/Weekly-Address-President-Obama-Discusses-Efforts-to-Reform-Spending-Government-Waste-
Names-Chief-Performance-Officer-and-Chief-Technology-Officer/.
28 Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Government Printing Office, vol. 29, Mar. 8, 1993, p. 350.
Available at
http://frwebgate4.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/TEXTgate.cgi?WAISdocID=854991445865+0+1+0&WAISaction=retrieve.
29 Remarks of Morley Winograd, director, National Partnership for Reinventing Government, at the Virtual
Government ’99 Conference, February 23, 1999, available at http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/speeches/
022399.html
30 The National Partnership for Reinventing Government website, January 2001, as archived at
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/initiati/index.html.
31 For additional information on the NPR/ National Partnership for Reinventing Government, see CRS Report
RL30596, The National Performance Review and Other Government Reform Initiatives: An Overview, 1993-2001, by
Harold C. Relyea, Maricele J. Cornejo Riemann, and Henry B. Hogue.
32 Ibid.
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Department of Commerce Technology Administration
The role of chief government advocate for U.S. civilian technological innovation was previously
performed largely by the Commerce Department’s Technology Administration (TA) and its
predecessors, the Office of Productivity, Technology and Innovation (OPTI)33 and the Office of
Industrial Technology (OIT).34 During its existence, the Technology Administration was headed
by an Under Secretary for Technology and included an analytical arm, the Office of Technology
Policy (OTP).35 In 2007, the Technology Administration, including the positions of Under
Secretary for Technology and Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, were eliminated under
the provisions of the America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69). The act eliminated the duties of the
Technology Administration and did not reassign any of them to other agencies. Among TA’s
duties:
• to conduct technology policy analyses to improve United States industrial
productivity, technology, and innovation;
• to determine the relationships of technological developments and international
technology transfers to the output, employment, productivity, and world trade
performance;
• to determine the influence of economic, labor and other conditions, industrial
structure and management, and government policies on technological
developments in particular industrial sectors worldwide;
• to identify technological needs, problems, and opportunities within and across
industrial sectors that, if addressed, could make a significant contribution to the
economy of the United States;
• to assess whether the capital, technical and other resources being allocated to
domestic industrial sectors which are likely to generate new technologies are
adequate;
• to propose and support studies and policy experiments to determine the
effectiveness of measures with the potential of advancing United States
technological innovation;
• to encourage and assist the creation of centers and other joint initiatives by State
or local governments, regional organizations, private businesses, institutions of
higher education, nonprofit organizations, or Federal laboratories to encourage
technology transfer, to stimulate innovation, and to promote an appropriate
climate for investment in technology-related industries;
• to propose and encourage cooperative research to promote the common use of
resources, to improve training programs and curricula, to stimulate interest in
high technology careers, and to encourage the effective dissemination of
technology skills within the wider community;
33 OPTI was established by the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-502).
34 OIT was established by the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-480).
35 TA and OTP were established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 1989 (P.L. 100-519).
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• to serve as a focal point for discussions among United States companies on topics
of interest to industry and labor, including discussions regarding manufacturing
and discussions regarding emerging technologies; and
• to consider government measures with the potential of advancing United States
technological innovation and exploiting innovations of foreign origin.36
Some or all of these duties might be assigned to a CTO in the context of serving as chief advocate
for technological innovation.
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
The Office of Science and Technology Policy is the White House office with primary
responsibility for science and technology issues.37 The OSTP traces its organizational roots to the
Office of Scientific Research and Development that was established within the Executive Office
of the President in 1941 by President Franklin Roosevelt under Executive Order 8807.38 In 1976,
Congress directed the establishment of OSTP in the National Science and Technology Policy,
Organization, and Priorities Act (P.L. 94-282), charging the office with serving “as a source of
scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major
policies, plans, and programs of the Federal Government.” The act authorizes OSTP to:
• advise the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on
the impacts of science and technology on domestic and international affairs;
• lead an interagency effort to develop and implement sound science and
technology policies and budgets;
• work with the private sector to ensure Federal investments in science and
technology contribute to economic prosperity, environmental quality, and
national security;
• build strong partnerships among Federal, State, and local governments, other
countries, and the scientific community; and
• evaluate the scale, quality, and effectiveness of the Federal effort in science and
technology.
To many observers, President Obama has imbued, in effect, the CTO position with the many of
the duties of OSTP by selecting a single individual, Mr. Chopra, to serve as both CTO and
associate director of OSTP for technology.
36 These and other duties were assigned to the Technology Administration and its predecessor organizations by the
Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-480), the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986
(P.L. 99-502), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1989 (P.L.
100-519).
37 Other White House offices—such as the Council on Environmental Quality, the National Economic Council (NEC),
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—also play important roles in the development, coordination, and
implementation of science and technology policies. For additional information about OSTP, see CRS Report RL34736,
The President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP): Issues for Congress, by Deborah D. Stine.
38 Available at http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=16137.
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Potential Challenges
Among the early challenges the CTO may face are: defining and communicating the roles of the
position; identifying and recruiting talent, from both inside and outside of government; and
negotiating domains of responsibilities, formal and informal, within the White House and with
executive branch agencies that have overlapping missions. Beyond these initial challenges, the
CTO will need to establish goals and milestones, set priorities, secure resources, and develop and
execute a strategy. If the position or office of the CTO is not established by Congress and
provided with statutory authorities and a dedicated budget, it may be difficult for the CTO to
affect change in individual federal agencies or systemically throughout the federal government. In
such a case, the efficacy of the CTO may depend largely on the mandate provided by President
Obama to the CTO (and agencies’ perception of the mandate), the imprimatur of the White
House, and the personal attributes of the CTO (e.g., relationship with the President, past
accomplishments, knowledge, professional reputation, persuasiveness).
Perhaps one of the most difficult and enduring challenges the CTO may face could be “turf wars”
associated with overlapping responsibilities with other executive agencies and their principals.
These “turf wars” could involve issues such as technology and innovation policy, computer and
network security, and intellectual property enforcement. For example, there are several
organizations within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) that have potentially
overlapping authorities, including:
• The Office of Management and Budget (as discussed on pages 6-7 of this report);
• The National Economic Council (NEC), on issues related to technological
innovation. For example, the NEC might evaluate federal policies intended to
promote technological innovation as an option for achieving the President’s
economic policy objectives;
• The President’s Council on Innovation and Competitiveness, which is charged
under the America COMPETES Act with providing advice to the President with
respect to global trends in competitiveness and innovation and allocation of
Federal resources in education, job training, and technology research and
development in the context of global trends in competitiveness and innovation, as
well as making recommendations to the heads of executive agencies to improve
innovation;39 and
• The Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, on technology-centered
intellectual property rights (e.g., digital copyright). 40
Potential conflict between the CTO and these offices might be magnified with the co-location of
the CTO within OSTP. While assigning Mr. Chopra the dual roles of assistant to the president and
CTO and associate director of OSTP may contribute to better coordination and integration of
CTO and OSTP functions, it may also create reporting and issue jurisdiction issues, both within
39 The America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) directs the President to establish a President’s Council on Innovation
and Competitiveness.
40 The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-403) directs the
President to appoint an Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator to serve within the Executive Office of the
President.
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OSTP and with other EOP offices. For example, in his capacity as OSTP associate director for
technology, Mr. Chopra reports to the director of OSTP, just as the position has in previous
administrations. However, in his capacity as assistant to the president and as CTO, both he and
the director of OSTP carry the equivalent title of “assistant to the president.” In addition, placing
the CTO in OSTP may also create jurisdiction issues with the OMB’s CPO and CIO functions.
The CTO’s responsibilities might also overlap with other executive branch agencies, such as the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and/or the Department of Commerce’s National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on issues such as information and
communication technology, and with agency CIOs and CTOs.
Finally, the manner in which the CTO has been established may affect the position/office’s ability
to transcend presidential administrations. If the authorities of the CTO continue to rely solely
upon the President’s executive authority (through an executive order, for example), then its
continued existence would be at the sole discretion of the current or future Presidents. In contrast,
if the CTO were to be established by statute (as OSTP was, for example), then the position/office
would continue to exist through changes of presidential administrations unless eliminated by
statute.
CTO Structure and Activities in the Obama
Administration
There is no official position description for the CTO,41 nor has President Obama sought
legislation to create a statutory foundation for the CTO position. Accordingly, to date, the
structure and official duties of the CTO remain largely undefined.
Structurally, Mr. Chopra has a small staff to assist him in his role as CTO, including three deputy
CTOs and an assistant deputy CTO.42 Appointment to the CTO position is at the sole discretion of
the president and does not require Senate confirmation. However, Mr. Chopra’s appointment as
associate director of OSTP position required Senate confirmation; he was confirmed on May 21,
2009.43 According to OSTP, the CTO is organizationally a part of OSTP. Further, OSTP states that
the CTO and associate director of OSTP for technology are separate and distinct positions though
they are currently held by the same individual.44
In the absence of a formal position description, some insights into the duties of the CTO in the
Obama Administration may be gleaned from what Mr. Chopra has said and done since assuming
his dual responsibilities. However, in the course of his public communications, Mr. Chopra does
not generally associate his various activities with the unique responsibilities of the two positions
he holds. This makes it difficult to identify which of his efforts and comments are specifically
linked to his duties as CTO as distinct from those that are linked to his duties as associate director
of OSTP.
41 Telephone conversation with Rick Weiss, assistant director for strategic communications, OSTP, The White House,
January 6, 2009.
42 Mr. Chopra has additional staff support for his role as assistant director of OSTP for Technology. See
http://www.ostp.gov/cs/about_ostp/leadership_staff.
43 See http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/one_item_and_teasers/nom_confc.htm.
44 Ibid.
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In a December 2009 interview with a trade publication, Mr. Chopra described his role as CTO as
an umbrella over his two-part service as assistant to the president and OSTP associate director for
technology:
The Chief Technology Officer role has two components: the first is my service as Assistant
to the President; the second is in my capacity as Associate Director for Technology in the
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In my role as Assistant to the
President, I serve as one of 25 key advisors who meet every morning in the West Wing to
coordinate and collaborate on all the major issues in front of the President. My responsibility
is largely to ensure that the voice of technology and innovation is heard across a wide range
of policy priorities–healthcare, energy, or education. At OSTP, a role for which the United
States Senate confirmed me back in May, I coordinate agency technology R&D and policy
and interface with the private sector in advancing our policy priorities.45
Mr. Chopra’s role as assistant to the president, as articulated above, seems consistent with then-
candidate Obama’s assertion at a campaign event in Silicon Valley that one of the reasons behind
his plan to appoint a CTO is to “make certain we incorporate technology into every decision we
make.”46 It is unclear, however, how his self-described role as assistant to the president to “ensure
that the voice of technology and innovation is heard across a wide range of policy priorities”
aligns with the role of OSTP director John Holdren who also serves as assistant to the president
for science and technology. In previous presidential administrations, the role Mr. Chopra asserts
for himself has been one generally reserved to the President’s science advisor.
According to OSTP,47 one of Mr. Chopra’s responsibilities is to assist in implementation of the
President’s Strategy for American Innovation, articulated in an Executive Office of the President
report published in September 2009.48 The strategy includes four thrusts:
• “Invest in the Building Blocks of American Innovation,” including fundamental
research, 21st century workforce skill development, physical infrastructure, and
widespread access to information technology tools.
• “Promote Competitive Markets that Spur Productive Entrepreneurship,”
including promoting American exports, supporting open capital markets,
encouraging high-growth and innovation-based entrepreneurship, and improving
innovation.
• “Drive Innovations in Health Care Technology,” including expanding use of
health care information technology, increasing investment in medical research,
and slowing the rising costs of health care costs.
• “Catalyze Breakthroughs for National Priorities,” including investments in new
energy technologies, advanced vehicle technologies, and health care technology,
45 J.D. Kathuria, “14 Questions for the Federal CTO Aneesh Chopra,” ExecutiveBiz, December 24, 2009, pp.
http://blog.executivebiz.com/exclusive-14-questions-for-federal-cto-aneesh-chopra/6579/comment-page-1.
46 “Barack Obama expected to be the first US ‘Tech President,’” Agence France-Presse, November 5, 2008.
47 Telephone conversation with Rick Weiss, assistant director for strategic communications, OSTP, The White House,
January 6, 2009.
48 Office of Science and Technology Policy/National Economic Council, The White House, A Strategy for American
Innovation: Driving Towards Sustainable Growth and Quality Jobs, Washington, DC, September 21, 2009,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/SEPT_20__Innovation_Whitepaper_FINAL.pdf.
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as well as addressing “grand challenges” through science, technology and
innovation.49
In testimony before the Senate Budget Committee Task Force on Government Performance, Mr.
Chopra stated that his focus was on “harnessing the power and potential of technology and
innovation to execute on the President’s vision for a 21st Century economy” to create jobs,
improve U.S. competitiveness, improve the affordability of communications, expand adoption of
broadband technologies, help keep families more connected, and increase the safety and security
of Americans.50
Further, in his testimony, Mr. Chopra discussed three areas of his work:
• Technology for open government. Mr. Chopra cited his efforts in support of the
Open Government Directive,51 issued by the White House Office of Management
and Budget, that instructs agencies to provide information to the public in open,
accessible, machine-readable formats; requires agencies to formulate an Open
Government Plan and website; and calls for a review of government-wide
information policies. Mr. Chopra described his office’s role in the development of
this directive as undertaking a month-long pilot initiative using emerging
technologies like wikis, blogs, and posts to solicit ideas from the public on the
topic, then culling more than 1,000 responses to incorporate their ideas into the
crafting of the directive.
• Technology for government performance. Mr. Chopra discussed several
examples of efforts to improve government performance in moving research into
development and deployment, supporting open standards, and using prizes and
competitions to align innovation with national priorities. It was not clear from his
remarks the role the CTO played in these activities.
• The President’s Strategy for American Innovation (see earlier discussion).
Mr. Chopra has also advocated for the application of technology and innovation to improve
education. In testimony before the House Committee on Education and Labor,52 Mr. Chopra
asserted the need for a greater proportion of Americans to earn college degrees; an increase in the
number of students excelling in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; breakthrough
strategies to identify hidden talent in the United States; and the potential role for technology and
innovation to help meet theses needs.
It would appear from the initiatives Mr. Chopra has undertaken and the testimony and interviews
he has given that his scope of duties is wide and generally aligned with the vision articulated by
President Obama during the campaign and transition. Among the tools Mr. Chopra has used to
49 Ibid.
50 “Data-Driven Performance: Using Technology to Deliver Results,” testimony of Aneesh Chopra, Chief Technology
Officer and Associate Director for Technology, OSTP, The White House, before the Committee on the Budget, Task
Force on Government Performance, U.S. Senate, December 10, 2009.
51 Open Government Directive, M10-06, Office of Management and Budget, December 8, 2009,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/documents/open-government-directive. For more information on the Open
Government Initiative, see http://www.whitehouse.gov/Open.
52 “The Future of Learning: How Technology is Transforming Public Schools,” testimony of Aneesh Chopra, Chief
Technology Officer and Associate Director for Technology, OSTP, The White House, before the Committee on
Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives, June 16, 2009.
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fulfill his CTO responsibilities are the development and promotion of ideas, policy development,
public communication, and fostering agency collaboration and coordination.
Issues for Consideration by Congress
With the appointment of Mr. Chopra as CTO, Congress has the opportunity to consider and
oversee the Administration’s plans for and use of this position. Although the president has
provided a broad overview of the role of the CTO, the White House has not provided detailed
information on the roles and responsibilities of the CTO, its organizational structure, staffing
plans, or relationship to White House offices and federal agencies.53 Nor has the president sought
to create a statutory foundation for the CTO that might be used to define the office’s duties and
authorities.
On April 2, 2009, Representative Gerald E. Connolly introduced the Chief Technology Officer
Act of 2009 (H.R. 1910). Representative Connolly stated that the purpose of the bill, in part, is to
make the position of CTO permanent to “ensure that a presidentially-appointed Chief Technology
Officer would be part of future administrations.”54 In an interview with the National Journal’s
nextgov, Representative Connolly further explained,
What I'm trying to do here is essentially provide a statutory framework for what President
Obama has done by executive order.... It is a logical extension of what he has done. It
guarantees that the CTO is the spokesman for technology in the federal government and the
White House itself—and the advocate for it.55
The act would provide a statutory foundation for the Office of the Chief Technology Officer,
establishing it as an Executive Office of the President headed by a federal chief technology
officer. The act assigns thirteen duties to the office, focused primarily on the Federal
government’s use of information technology and its role in securing the national information
infrastructure. Under the act, the CTO would also:
serve as a source of analysis and advice for the President and heads of Federal departments
and agencies with respect to major policies, plans, and programs of the Federal Government
associated with information technology.56
Bruce McConnell, a former head of information technology policy at OMB, asserts that the bill
does not give the CTO a broad enough portfolio, placing too great a focus on information
technology which instead should be the domain of the federal chief information officer (CIO).
Alan Paller of the SANS Institute, a computer security research and education organization, has
expressed concerns that the wide range of duties and responsibilities assigned the CTO in the bill
53 According to the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, the only publicly available information about the
CTO (including the roles, responsibilities, structure, organizational placement, and relationship to other offices) is what
is available on the White House website. Personal communication between CRS and the White House Office of
Presidential Personnel, April 20, 2009.
54 Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Extension of Remarks, Congressional Record, April 21, 2009, p. E911,
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2009_record&page=E911&position=all.
55 Aliya Sternstein, “Congressman pushes to expand chief technology officer’s influence,” National Journal’s nextgov,
April 22, 2009.
56 H.R. 1910.
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might pull the CTO in too many directions and make the CTO ineffectual. Trey Hodgkins, vice
president for national security and procurement policy at TechAmerica, an association that
represents high-tech companies, stated that it was important for the CTO and CIO to have the
authorities to facilitate participatory democracy and, if a statute was necessary to provide these
authorities, the legislation may be beneficial.57
The act was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on May 4,
2009. No action has been taken.
If Congress chooses to establish the CTO position through statute, there are several issues it may
wish to consider. For example:
• What mission, duties, and authorities should be given the CTO? Should one
person serve as both the CTO and OSTP associate director for technology?
• What level of funding should be authorized and/or appropriated for the CTO?
• Should the CTO be placed in the Executive Office of the President or elsewhere
in the executive branch? If in the EOP, should the CTO directly report to the
president, or instead be a part of another EOP agency? Who should the CTO
report to? Should the appointment of the CTO be subject to Senate confirmation?
• Should the CTO be a stand-alone position or an office or agency with its own
staff? If the CTO is established together with a supporting office or agency, how
many full-time equivalent positions should be authorized? What should be the
composition of the staff with respect to occupation (e.g., scientists, engineers, IT
professionals, lawyers, managers, administrators); political appointees and career
civil servants; and permanent employees and employees on detail from other
agencies?
• How should the work of the CTO differ, overlap, and/or complement the duties
and authorities of offices in the Executive Office of the President, and other
executive branch agencies?
• What should be the relationship between the president’s CTO and the existing
CTOs and CIOs of individual departments and agencies?
Author Contact Information
John F. Sargent Jr.
Specialist in Science and Technology Policy
jsargent@crs.loc.gov, 7-9147
57 Ibid.
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