InformationWeek and Leading Tech CEOs & CIOs Send Mandate to President Obama and Federal CTO

InformationWeek, the leading multimedia business technology brand, released today a groundbreaking call to arms from the technology industry to President Obama and the new federal CTO, who is expected to be named in the coming weeks. In the InformationWeek Analytics report, "Federal CTO Agenda: Our Advice to the President", InformationWeek outlines the mission critical issues facing the federal CTO and digs into what CEOs and CIOs in the technology sector are demanding. This call to arms comes on the heels of the pending massive $787 billion economic stimulus package set to pass with an estimated $52.4 billion committed IT investment.

President Obama promises to appoint a CTO "to ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies, and services for the 21st century," according to his campaign website. The core of the InformationWeek Analytics report is based on detailed interviews with the who's who of private-sector technology executives, as well as government IT leaders outlining specific initiatives and issues that the new federal CTO must address. InformationWeek's research included hard-hitting advice and direction from the industry's most powerful executives, including CEO Jim Goodnight, SAS, CIO Ralph Szygenda, General Motors, CTO Sophie Vandebroek, Xerox, CEO John Swainson, CA and many more.

The InformationWeek Analytics Report, "Federal CTO Agenda: Our Advice to the President", also includes a survey of 853 business technology professionals to get their take on which issues and initiatives should be at the top of the priority list for the new Federal CTO. The research found the following:

  --  Improve government's use of technology (31% of respondents) as the
      single most important agenda item
  --  Improve education in science, technology, engineering, and math (19%)
  --  Steer technology policy (18%)
  --  Encourage industry-driven technology innovation (16%)
  --  Just 5% think the most important issue for the CTO will be to steer
      government spending on technology

Specifically, the public and private sector CEOs & CIOs interviewed tended to fall into two camps: those who see the federal CTO as an inside-the-government change agent, and those who want a leader of tech innovation more broadly, along the lines of a "chief innovation officer." The report finds that while industry leaders don't speak with one voice, they generally agree on this: If the federal CTO isn't given clear or sufficient authority, he or she will fail. Tech leaders InformationWeek interviewed warn against a symbolic or pulpit role, or a CTO who's toiling in the trenches. "Transformation" is a description that comes up more than any other.

"The fed CTO needs to think big--but not so big that it becomes impossible to get things done. That means focusing on the government's technology and data architectures (cloud computing, data center consolidation, Web applications, data warehousing, etc.) and setting procurement and other standards across agencies," said Rob Preston, Editor in Chief, InformationWeek. "Leave the innovation and U.S. competitiveness master planning to the Commerce Department--or better still, for smart entrepreneurs and captains of industry to figure out with only minimal government assistance or interference."

The InformationWeek Analytics report, "Federal CTO Agenda: Our Advice to the President", is available for download at http://www.informationweek.com/alert/fedcio.

See what all 26 tech CEO and CIOs put on the federal CTO's agenda in the InformationWeek slide show, "Tech Leaders Advice to the Federal CTO" at http://www.informationweek.com/1220/gallery_gov.htm.

About InformationWeek

InformationWeek (www.informationweek.com) is the anchor brand for the InformationWeek Business Technology Network -- a powerful portfolio of resources that span the technology market, including security with DarkReading.com, storage with ByteandSwitch.com, application architecture with IntelligentEnterprise.com, network architecture with NetworkComputing.com, communications with NoJitter.com, and Internet innovation with InternetEvolution.com. InformationWeek magazine reaches 440,000 business technology professionals at more than a quarter million unique locations. Its mission is to help CIOs and IT executives define and frame their business technology objectives. InformationWeek.com delivers breaking news, blogs, high-impact image galleries, and proprietary research as well as analysis on IT trends, a whitepaper library, video reports, and interactive tools, all in a 24/7 environment.

About TechWeb

TechWeb (http://techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events, Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat, and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, and Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services including next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on number of monthly connections

  Contact:    Sherbrooke Balser
              Director of Marketing
              InformationWeek Business Technology Network
              sbalser@techweb.com
              949.223.3605

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SOURCE: InformationWeek

CONTACT: Sherbrooke Balser, Director of Marketing, InformationWeek
Business Technology Network, +1-949-223-3605, sbalser@techweb.com

Web Site: http://www.informationweek.com/