White House Chief Technology Officer Steps Down

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White House Chief Technology Officer Steps Down

Posted by Soulskill on Friday January 27, 2012 @11:35AM from the help-wanted-must-know-tech-stuff dept.

New submitter Krazy Kanuck writes "The White House is running a story on their OSTP blog that Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra is stepping down after being appointed to the post by President Obama in 2009. There is some mention of him returning to his home state of Virginia, and the Washington Post suggests a possible bid for lieutenant governor."

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Can we apply as a group? by LostCluster · 2012-01-27 11:35 · Score: 4, Interesting

Maybe we can talk someone in the White House press office to use Ask Slashdot for technical questions and Your Rights Online for recommendations on tech bills... Would somebody please put together a resume for We the People of Slashdot?
1. Re:Can we apply as a group? by girlintraining · 2012-01-27 11:53 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Would somebody please put together a resume for We the People of Slashdot?
  We could, but it would be full of contradictory skills and experiences, an entire year devoted to yelling "First Post!", and would boast certifications like "Made baby jesus cry."
  Actually... It's still better than the current crop of presidential hopefuls. PRINT IT.
  
  --
  #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
2. Re:Can we apply as a group? by clarkkent09 · 2012-01-27 12:42 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Nooo, we don't want the wider public to see how naive nerds are when it comes to politics, as evidenced daily by most posts here. Let's stay quiet and pretend we are smart.
  
  --
  Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
3. Re:Can we apply as a group? by LostCluster · 2012-01-27 14:20 · Score: 1
  
  Come on, were you against the SOPA/PIPA blackouts?
4. Re:Can we apply as a group? by smellotron · 2012-01-27 14:44 · Score: 1
  
  Come on, were you against the SOPA/PIPA blackouts?
  
  Doubtful, but that's the proverbial diamond in the rough. Are you familiar with the spam form response? I have not yet seen the equivalent for political reform discussions. I believe this is an indication that the Slashdot as a community underestimates the inherent complexity (corruption aside!) of American politics.
5. Re:Can we apply as a group? by medcalf · 2012-01-27 15:28 · Score: 1
  
  Trust me when I tell you that you do not want to work in technology anywhere near the White House.
  
  --
  -- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
6. Re:Can we apply as a group? by ubrgeek · 2012-01-27 16:14 · Score: 1
  
  And that kids is the story of How I Met Your Congress.
  
  --
  Bark less. Wag more.
7. Re:Can we apply as a group? by analyst-cz · 2012-01-27 17:53 · Score: 1
  
  Did you ever notice how fatal consequences does ruling by NOT politically naive persons have? I am pretty sure we are living the era where this will change simply as the result of the nature laws force.
  
  --
  "Interesting times to you..." (One of the most feared black magic curses.)
At least by Dyinobal · 2012-01-27 11:37 · Score: 3, Interesting

At least he isn't stepping down to a lobbying position for the media industry. I half expected that when I read the title. Though I guess he still can...
1. Re:At least by jank1887 · 2012-01-27 13:50 · Score: 1
  
  lieutenant gov makes for a great position while he waits for the 1-2 year lobbying restraint to be lifted.
This just in by koan · 2012-01-27 11:40 · Score: 5, Funny

Aneesh Chopra current lieutenant governor of Virginia has introduced the death penalty for on-line piracy bill (DPOP)

--
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Big talker, little substance by blahbooboo · 2012-01-27 12:11 · Score: 1

He gives amazing speeches. Unfortunately, he really doesn't understand computers and it's a joke he was made CTO
1. Re:Big talker, little substance by Hatta · 2012-01-27 12:19 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  That sounds awfully familiar somehow.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
2. Re:Big talker, little substance by artor3 · 2012-01-27 12:34 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Care to give an example to back up your claim? He seemed to do a good job, from the little I saw about him. He was behind the push to bring better internet access to rural areas, expanding access to electronic health records, and he opposed SOPA. For a new position without a very clearly defined set of goals, I'd say he did fine.
3. Re:Big talker, little substance by modmans2ndcoming · 2012-01-27 12:45 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  consolidating the government's Data centers and starting a real push to update the infrastructure to something resembling the 2010's rather than the 1980's is not doing much?
4. Re:Big talker, little substance by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 13:06 · Score: 1
  
  Given that "cloud computing" is merely "mainframe computing" with a prettier name, the difference between the 1980s and the 2010s is much less than you seem to think it is.
5. Re:Big talker, little substance by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 13:25 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  When he was the CTO of Virginia, he made an agreement with Northrop Gruman that setup large systems for the DMV such that if there were any failure in the server area, the entire system--statewide--lost connectivity. It wasn't until the current governor of Virginia took office that the contract was forced to be renegotiated so that we got a better deal.
  Similarly thanks to him, the Virginia State Police now rent all of their computers rather than buying them outright, and their systems lack the resources to handle their actual requirements.
  Awesome job by him, not only by giving the work to a defense contractor when an in-state business could have absolutely done it better, and likely for less, but for just generally screwing it up.
  In short, he left Virginia's infrastructure in a devastated position whenever he touched it because he is a fool in good clothes.
6. Re:Big talker, little substance by modmans2ndcoming · 2012-01-27 13:42 · Score: 1
  
  uhh.... it is absolutely NOT mainframe computing. GRID computing, AKA cloud computing, is not even close to time-slice based timeshare processing with dumb terminals connected to the mainframe on a LAN.
  anyway... I am talking more about the actual tech....not the computing model.
7. Re:Big talker, little substance by modmans2ndcoming · 2012-01-27 13:45 · Score: 1
  
  That is pretty bad, but I would have to understand how it came to that rather than assume Northrop Grumman provided him with a list of network topologies and he picked the one with a single point of failure.
8. Re:Big talker, little substance by modmans2ndcoming · 2012-01-28 01:15 · Score: 1
  
  Perhaps he bought one thing, they built another and due to a setting in some routers, they discovered that if you bring one part down, everything else comes down? To me that is not something the CTO would just be able to see and if the state did not have any Cisco engineers to validate the work of the contractor, then he had to take the contractor's word for it.
9. Re:Big talker, little substance by modmans2ndcoming · 2012-01-28 10:11 · Score: 1
  
  So.... really it is the same topology with different technology....
  Good job just agreeing with me.
Pirate Party by tidepool · 2012-01-27 12:35 · Score: 2

Honestly,
This is why we (the US) needs a far more established 'Pirate Party' (Yes, the name is terrible, but the ideas behind it, I'm sure many agree with) so a shown to others, able-bodied, pool of candidates would already be present.
True, the chances of hell of actually being voted in to such a position would be slim to none, however, it is a good catalyst for said party to bring ideas and ideals to attention to the general public.
Mass. and I believe another state has an officially registered party -- Where are all the other states? Let's GO people!
1. Re:Pirate Party by tidepool · 2012-01-27 13:06 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you for correcting some of my ignorance! I've read about a few Euro-based in the news, but came up rather lacking at home. I actually have already ordered the physical print copy from amazon the other day; It should be here Monday. (I figure it's worth actually purchasing).
  Also, you're absolutely right about the time-frame of things -- Now is the time.
Re:Aneesh Chopra by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-27 12:44 · Score: 2, Insightful

And yet, it is better than it has been in almost a decade. The last admin took a great economy, peacetime, no defict, and then created world wars all over, ran up massive deficits and destroyed western economies while sending the jobs to China, North Korea, Vietnam, Venezuela, and even Iran.
The reason why is. by wbr1 · 2012-01-27 12:51 · Score: 1

He got tired of administering (ignoring) the We The People petition site. That is a hard job.

--
Silence is a state of mime.
Sounds about right by dave562 · 2012-01-27 15:53 · Score: 1

That seems to be par for the course when it comes to "super star IT staff". They tend to last 2-4 years where ever they go, and then they're off on whatever the next shiny thing their ADHD brain latches onto.
Just like Steve Chen? by gelfling · 2012-01-27 16:23 · Score: 1

Every technical/technological post this and the prior admin has tried to staff has crashed and burned. The White House understands generally, what lobbyists and Congressional staffers tell them to understand. If it doesn't have to do with posturing about either giving stuff to poor people or pretending to give educational things to the teachers of some target group it doesn't mean squat.
Remember with the appointment of Steve Chen we were going to have algae powered teleportation in 3 years? Yeah how did that Nobel Laureate work out?
D'oh by waldoj · 2012-01-27 18:58 · Score: 1

I wasn't logged in, but that was my post.
1. Re:D'oh by medcalf · 2012-01-31 13:58 · Score: 1
  
  So not in OCIO, then?
  
  --
  -- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
My hovercraft is full of eels by Hognoxious · 2012-01-28 00:50 · Score: 1

And this, children, is why you shouldn't rely on automated translation.

--
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
stepping down by slick7 · 2012-01-28 11:27 · Score: 1

When you can walk, walk away. When you can't walk away, run.
Finally, someone who has the guts to divest themselves before the O'bama, Bush, Clinton crime cabal has the floor drop out from under them.
Life: the time between the floor dropping and the rope going taut.

--
The mind conceives, the body achieves, the spirit manifests.