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New Federal CIO Is Former Microsoft, FCC Exec

Posted by timothy on from the maybe-he's-just-civic-minded dept.

msmoriarty writes "The second-ever federal CIO (the first, Vivek Kundra, resigned in June) will be Steven VanRoekel, who worked with Microsoft for 15 years, running the company's Web Services and Platform Strategy and Windows Server Solutions groups. He went to the FCC in 2009, where he then advocated for open government and open platforms. VanRoekel's title on his twitter feed has already been changed to 'United States Chief Information Officer.'" According to reader dcblogs, VanRoekel is also a hefty political donor, having given $50,000 toward Obama's inauguration festivities.

15 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Man who knows what he is doing by zget · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A man who actually has a good history and knowledge in information technologies is taken as government CIO. I'd say that's a good thing, especially as he is promoting open government and open platforms. Really freshening actually. But true slashdot style let's get the Microsoft bashing going, not even thinking MS was probably the hottest company to work for 15 years ago. 3.. 2.. 1.. GO!

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    Google+ vs. Facebook, and why Google+ will fail
    1. Re:Man who knows what he is doing by grimmjeeper · · Score: 2

      I'm not going to bash Microsoft necessarily. However, I raise an eyebrow when I see that he's made non-trivial donations to politicians. I wonder if it's possible for him to bring the transparency of open government and open platforms he's advocated. If so, great. If not, well, it won't be much of a change from what we already have. I guess then that this appointment can't be any worse than a lot of people who might have been appointed. It remains to be seen if it will be better.

    2. Re:Man who knows what he is doing by Rob+Y. · · Score: 2

      I'd be more concerned to find out that he still has large holdings of Microsoft stock.

      I fully expect another Nokia situation, where an ex-Microsofter is brought in and sees that the 'obvious' solution is to discard whatever govt agencies are working on and replace them with all Microsoft solutions, regardless of cost. Please prove me wrong.

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    3. Re:Man who knows what he is doing by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 2

      And he's from Microsoft, with 15 years of Ballmer-brainwashing stored up in his noggin

      Then again, he might use this as an opportunity to get back at Ballmer. Not all escapees relate that closely to boss alpha monkey.

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      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
    4. Re:Man who knows what he is doing by tehcyder · · Score: 2

      He paid $50K to help elect the guy we have (an amount that is not peanuts by any stretch)

      TFS said it was to help fund the inauguration festivities, i.e. after Obama had already been elected.

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      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  2. So? by bonch · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There are several former Google employees working in the administration as well. Eric Schmidt even serves as one of Obama's technology advisers.

    1. Re:So? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      So, give the president money, you get a job. It's called corruption.

    2. Re:So? by bonch · · Score: 2

      My point is that this story was posted because of the Microsoft connection, not the presidential donation. People in government are actively involved in politics, which often involves donations to candidates they support. That's just common sense and is hardly scandalous.

      If you want to complain about trading money for power, Obama personally attended a fundraiser at Marissa Mayer's house a week before the FTC dropped its inquiry into Google's Street View data-harvesting.

    3. Re:So? by H0p313ss · · Score: 2

      So, give the president money, you get a job. It's called corruption.

      At least he has some experience in the field. Unlike, say, Brownie

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
  3. When you use Linux, you help the Republicans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    This guy giving 50,000 to Obama, Gates giving most of his contributions to Democrats, and Al Gore sitting on Apple's board. When you use closed source, you are helping the Democrats. When you use Linux, you are depriving money from the Democrats and therefore are helping the Republicans.

    1. Re:When you use Linux, you help the Republicans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Richard Stallman's evil plan has been exposed!

  4. Open platforms? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

    Is that "Microsoft Open", "FOSS Open", or does he use some other definition?

    Does he consider IIS to be "open", for example?

    I clicked around in an attempt to resolve all this, but what info I was able to find was all politician-level vague.

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    #DeleteChrome
  5. Re:Revolving Door by amiga3D · · Score: 2

    What's your point? The government is broken? We know that. As long as people think that democrats and republicans are in any way interested in actually fixing what is broken and keep voting for the liars then it'll will not only stay broken but continue to get worse. Get used to it because it's going to get a lot worse.

  6. Re:Revolving Door by cosm · · Score: 2

    What's your point? The government is broken? We know that. As long as people think that democrats and republicans are in any way interested in actually fixing what is broken and keep voting for the liars then it'll will not only stay broken but continue to get worse. Get used to it because it's going to get a lot worse.

    My point is: business as usual. Sorry for apparently not adding anything worth mentioning my friend. And no, don't get used to it. The more you raise these sorts of issues in public forums, the higher the chance that somebody unaware of these sorts of things gets exposure. If I can at least get one person to open their eyes to at least research our county's issues, then I am helping out at least, in a little way, but better than staying silent, don't you think? I stay politically active in the real-world; being politically vocal and wanting to have these conversations in person vs. online are not mutually exclusive activities.

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    'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
  7. This system isn't going anywhere soon by Quila · · Score: 2

    It will be a two-sided coin for the foreseeable future.

    The only hope is in changing the existing parties. At the very least I would suggest supporting those within their own parties with a strong penchant for fighting against those parties. Not that I like these people, but here are two good examples of the concept.

    Dennis Kucinich, someone liberals adore. He is single-minded in his pursuit of his issues even when it doesn't agree with his party. He has no problem speaking out about the hypocrisy in his party.

    Sarah Palin, a Republican who built her career on knocking corrupt encumbent Republicans out of office.

    Ron Paul: A good disruptor, a thorn in everybody's side.

    Obama was not a good example, having voted party line almost every single time. Despite the "maverick" hype, so does McCain (less than Obama, but still 90+%)