Help us interview Aneesh Chopra, Obama's CTO

The debate over health care reform is white hot in America right now, but there has been little exploration about technology's role in improving delivery while reducing costs.

That's about to change.

Later this month, CNET will be sitting down with Aneesh Chopra, President Obama's chief technology officer, and you're invited to help with the interview.

Aneesh Chopra

Obama selected Chopra, formerly the secretary of technology for Gov. Kaine of Virginia, for this key position partly because of his experience and desire to use technology to reform health care. In announcing his selection, Obama noted: "In this role, Aneesh will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities--from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure. Aneesh ... will work closely with our Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra, who is responsible for setting technology policy across the government, and using technology to improve security, ensure transparency, and lower costs. The goal is to give all Americans a voice in their government and ensure that they know exactly how we're spending their money--and can hold us accountable for the results."

The appointment of an apparent Silicon Valley outsider had some detractors. The TechCrunch headline reporting Chopra's appointment stated "Obama Spurns Silicon Valley Vets, names Virginia's Secretary of Technology as CTO." According to the story, "The choice comes after months of speculation, during which many of Silicon Valley's most prominent figures, including Steve Ballmer, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Eric Schmidt (among many others) were named as possible candidates."

Others hailed Obama's choice. In a very detailed post about the role of the federal CTO and Chopra's experience, Tim O'Reilly concludes that Chopra is "a rock star. He's a brilliant, thoughtful change-maker. He knows technology, he knows government, and he knows how to put the two together to solve real problems. We couldn't do better."

CNET has a long tradition of interviewing technology leaders. For this interview--to be conducted by Declan McCullagh and Charles Cooper--we're mixing things up in two ways: the interview will be on video (with a transcript also available) and we're asking our users to participate by submitting questions. So please read the links included in this post (and the comments), do some of your own research, and use the form at the bottom of this page to participate. We will be publishing the interview on September 22.

[Christopher_Howie]

I would like for Chopra to explain the parameters of the new regulation that allows the White House to take control of the Internet in an emergency. What is mean to take control of the Internet and private networks? Under what conditions will White House assume control? What controls are in place to ensure that these networks are released from White House control once the crises has passed?

[brent_gee]

Please ask Chopra to describe any plans to regulate/enforce/entreat ISPs to improve their broadband speeds across the board. Are there any plans for legislation to implore a quicker development of widespread broadband, both to the home and wireless?

[jaximflash]

I don't have a specific question, but I ask cnet to research John C Dvorak's criticisms of Aneesh Chopra and Chopra's prepared responses in order to determine any holes in Chopra's background and his past rhetoric and ask well researched pointed questions in that regard.

[J_Jordan_D]

I'd like to know where I can get a Master's Degree in Skip Logic and Cobol Statements. I'm dying to re-write a module used for TPS Reports. ;)

[Random_Walk]

I have one - well, two, concerning Patent and Copyright Reform.

What moves are being planned to keep some sort of check on the 'life of author plus a zillion years if Disney gets its way' extensions on copyright law? It's getting to the point of abuse, and given the far faster nature of the software industry, is crippling innovation and invention. ~30 years max was sufficient back in the 1970's, and yet these days it seems like dying software and entertainment corporations demand that a century or more is insufficient.

Also, I'm curious as to why we cannot patent mathematical algorithms and recipes, but yet we can patent software... any hope of reform in that direction?

[washrice]

when will we use electrical or online documents sooner or later you have no chose but to decide

[gggg sssss]

will he suspend the h1b1 program until all US computer people are fully employed? Will he ensure that all govt contracts are fulfilled by US citizens, rather than imported labor, or exported jobs, like the Buy American policy for infractructure stimulus? If not, why not?

[Ken from Chicago]

Will be a limit on how soon medical carriers need to update their information?

Because right now, anyone with medical insurance can still be denied it because the carrier has a typo (e.g., misspelled name, mistyped date of birth, misrecorded social security number)--and it takes 2, 3 or even more WEEKS for them to correct. Meanwhile you have to pay out of pocket until you get reimbursed from the carrier.

(For those of you playing at home, try it. If you have medical insurance thru your job's group plan, try contacting your insurance carrier about updating your address and see if they don't refer you to your company's health administrator--either in-house as part of HR or outsourced to a 3rd-party. Then ask the administrator how long it would take the CARRIER to update their database.)

Oh and while you are waiting for the medical insurance carrier to update their data--don't you dare be late in paying premiums for your monthly premiums for your coverage.

[joshdeboer]

Ask him if he knows anything about technology for starters.

[mtf612]

Heres a simple question:

What is being done to catch up to Europe and Asia in terms of technology? While in their markets the prices are higher, the production is still greater, as is the consumption. And the overall quality is far greater. Think phones for example. USA phones are terribly behind japanese phones connectivity wise. What can be done by the government to incentivize the telecoms to stop over billing and start providing real access.
Because until everyone gets a direct fiber obtic link to a server in the middle of their country which goes to a fiber optic link in the middle of their continent which goes to all the rest of the world...the internet will remain slow, as will tech.

[ofmyony]

Mr. Choupra
I have concerns that Wireless companies are reluctant to allow applications like Voip to be used on their data networks. Applications like VOIP are becoming essential to every day lives of many Americans.

My Question
If Wireless companies remain reluctant, and continue to deny VOIP services from being used over their data networks what steps are being taken to allow consumers the right to use applications like VOIP over their data networks?

Final thought,
I believe its in our nation's interest to have an open wireless network. I do not believe we have that today.
Thank you, respectfully
Jimmie from Missouri

[ofmyony]

Mr. Chopra, I met to correct my previous post. Sorry for the misspelling

[inachu1]

I wonder if Chopra is also an outsourced person or born and raised in USA.

[tifkatsmom]

Many of our nations native college undergrads and graduates are being passed up for positions in the technology, engineering, and medical fields, because students from other countries have a better education.

Mr. Chopra, as the new CTO, how do you plan on improving technology in this country to benefit our students and their education?

[junkmarc]

With IPv4 addresses running out in and around 2011, will the Government take an active role in mandating any IPv6 policy or leaving the protocol updates to the private sector?

[TomPhilo]

Is the CIO / CTO going to go down the "one size fits all" approach like all the previously (failed) IT iniatives of the past 50 years?

Are you going to just find a vision and design something to match it or are you going to get a top 10 set of problems in each functional area of government / agency and THEN design a solution to fix that specific set of problems - and not worry about having 200 different systems that function perfectly for THEIR specific purpose and have a "back end" written intermediate application that talks to each of these systems and THEN tie those two hundred systems together so that the global view is then seen?

i.e: have a Software abstraction layer for each set of systems that ties into a cental system so that you do not have to rewrite 200 systems at one fell swoop each time a new top level directive is make. Sort of like having a web service between each of the field systems.

Do you belive in a problem driven soltution method of software development or just a policy directive where all rules must be obeyed even if they defeat the ability to obtain the needs of the users or make it so complicated that people just will never do it (or more likely, do it so ineffiecently that people complain as to why it takes so long)?

Is your management style of telling people / agency what to do or telling them a goal and let them figure out the best way to achive it?

How have you overcome NIMBY in the past?

Have you ever actually seen the true impact on day to day operations of the policies you have enacted? Have you ever done an unbiased cost analysis of any IT policy - actually gone and talked to people whose job would be impacted by a change and not just staffers talking to mangers?

Do you want authority to VETO any IT project anywhere in the government - with the only appeal going directly to the Preisdent to override it?

Have you ever been to Nome, Alaska and looked at the Federal Government offices and seen how remote operations from a REAL remote operation really runs and understand the issues involved in remote IT operations in a real out of the way place?

Tom Philo
http://www.taphilo.com

[pjwilk]

Given the success of the FDIC and the SEC in collecting banking, business, and investment information in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format, do you intend to expand the use of the standard, perhaps similar to what the Netherlands and Australia have done with their Standard Business Reporting (SBR) projects? What is your view on the Towns-Issa legislation (HR 2392) requiring a single government standard for data collection, presumably the XBRL format adopted by the FDIC, SEC, PRC, UK, and other agencies and governments?

[gggg sssss]

@ inachu1 a serach of india times and other pro india sites, has no mention of where he was born. Curious. But they do affirm taht he is Indian American rather than just American. Draw your own conclusions.

[russell.g.oneill]

I'd be curious to ask him how he finds the delineation of work and policy between his role and Vivek Kundra's. If the the first time the U.S. Government has had both a CTO and CIO, so I'm curious to hear him describe how the two roles relate and how they differ.

[pdalton_mcsd]

I would like to know how small to medium IT companies are going to be able to compete for shares of the Health Care IT programs? Government funding and large coporate "partnerships" are going to turn this into a who's-who of who you know, not how good or creative your idea can be.

Additionally, how does he plan on "improving" our new out-sourcing model for all things IT? Off-shore IT for 1/10 of what you pay in the local economy is driving many IT shops into the poor house. I am not suggesting a return to $100+/hour rates accross the board, but how can you compete against $5.00/hour labor for programming? I can deliver pizza and make more money!