Who will Obama select as his Chief Technology Officer?

Schmidt has already publicly turned it down,Jobs couldn’t possibly play well in a “Team of Rivals” (and can you imagine outrage if he parked in a handicapped parking space in DC [unless, of course, he, sad to say, had a handicapped tag?])

From CNET:

"Former InterActiveCorp executive and Obama technology transition team member Julius Genachowski has been considered a strong contender for the CTO role, though he is also seen as a top choice for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The Washington Post reported last month that Genachowski may be more interested in the FCC position because of the CTO’s limited responsibilities.

“There does seem to be some belief (that) if he wants (the chairmanship), he’ll get it,” said David Kaut, a telecommunications, media, and tech policy analyst for the firm Stifel Nicolaus, who donated money to Obama. “The FCC is going to be the big player, when it comes to making and implementing policy, but depending on how much weight Obama wants to give the CTO, they could be a player as well.”

From Silicon Alley Insider:

A source familiar with the Obama transition team told SAI that no one has been offered the job yet, but a consensus has emerged on the qualities the CTO should have:

• The CTO should have a Ph.D.
• The candidate should have a scientific background, not an entrepreneurial one.
• The person should be from Silicon Valley.

how about “none of the above”?

“Field” takes care of none of the above.

Also, welcome to Inkling! I see you just joined today.

This market needs a “No Appointment By” option. I suggest 4/30/09 — the end of President Obama’s first 100 days in office — as a cutoff date.

Good point. Also, I’ve cleared up the vagaries of the word “select” in the Market Information section.

Genachowski has been picked to head the FCC, so it’s probably safe to assume he’s out of the running for CTO…

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2009/tc20090115_815265.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-temp_news%2B+analysis

CIO == CTO for the purposes of this market, right?

I don’t think so… According to this article, Obama is still going to name a CTO, who Kundra will be working with as CIO.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/03/02/daily79.html?jst=b_ln_hl

“Kundra will work with Obama’s yet-to-be-named chief technology officer to promote the president’s technology agenda.”

The CIO is not the CTO. We are still expecting the administration to appoint someone to the role of CTO. For a long time, there has been speculation over what the CTO’s job would entail. Some people thought the CTO would function as the president’s top tech policy advisor. Others (including myself) suspected the CTO would be in charge of federal IT. As it turns out, this will be Kundra’s job as CIO. We still expect a CTO to be appointed, and that this person will be in charge of tech policy. From yesterday’s Washington Post:

Obama also plans to appoint a chief technology officer who will work closely with Kundra, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcements are not yet official. The exact job description for that position has not yet been announced, but the chief technology officer might focus more on overall technology policy while the chief information officer will handle day-to-day spending and operations within agency projects.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/05/AR2009030501060.html

Here is another article that mentions the difference between the CTO and CIO position. http://newsblaze.com/story/2009030510230100002.pnw/topstory.html

“"Today’s announcement recognizes the vital role that technology plays in our nation’s economy and job creation, and its influence on open and transparent government,” noted Mark Bohannon, SIIA’s Senior Vice President for Public Policy and General Counsel. “Separating the roles of CIO – who will direct the policy and strategic planning of federal information technology investments and be responsible for oversight of federal technology spending – from the role of Chief Technology Officer makes a lot of sense.”"

I just heard a rumor that this position will be announced today. If it does not happen, I will re-open the market.

The president announced this morning that Aneesh Chopra will become CTO. If Chopra ultimately assumes this office, Field will be the winning stock.