CIOs and Feds react to the White House’s Digital Government Strategy

ATTENTION— If you haven’t already checked out our recap of the Obama Administration’s new Digital Government Strategy do that first.

You can read it right here.

Or listen to Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel and CTO Todd Park lay it out at an event sponsored by ACT/IAC and AFFIRM.

“The bottom line in these series of announcements isn’t just bringing people in from the outside or coming up with a new strategy, it’s us giving them permission to unleash the potential that exists through their experience of consumer technology on the model that is government,” VanRoekel said. “It’s taking that next step to really unleash all of this power of technology in the way we work, the way we interface with Americans and the way we really meet the mission of government.”

But not everyone was sold on the new strategy.

During the Q&A portion of the presentation VanRoekel and Park were hit with some tough questions from the government audience and moderator Darren Ash.

Questions like, what are the biggest barriers to this plan’s success? How will inter-agency collaboration work? Haven’t we seen this plan before? And didn’t it fail? What about the have-nots who do not have access to smart phones and tablets?

But what do fellow CIOs think of the new strategy?

Wyatt Kash is the editorial director of AOL Government. He moderated an all-star panel of government CIOs. Kash asked each of the panelist what makes this strategy new and different.

1. Michael Byrne – Chief Geographic Officer, FCC – The goal of this strategy is to get the public data anywhere, anytime on any device. That’s really never been done before. It also has actionable steps and a timeline for success. And most importantly all data is content. There is not separate but equal when it comes to what is and isn’t content.
2. Sheila Campbell – Director, Center for Excellence in Digital Government, GSA – The focus is on content not just technology. It emphasizes what the community needs then gives us an outline to get that done. The tight fiscal budget changes the way we do business, we have to innovate with less and share services.
3. Rick Holgate – Chief Information Officer, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – It’s a much bolder strategy than the ones that came before but it has practical steps. It really encourages us to think differently.
4. Richard Spires – Chief Information Officer, Department of Homeland Security; Vice-chair, Federal CIO Council – Inter-agency cooperation is hard work. This strategy gives us specific milestones that force us to play together well. We have a chance to get it right.