US CTO seeks to scale agile thinking and open data across federal government - O'Reilly Radar

information about the programs mentioned in the following introduction: “In the 21st century, federal government must go mobile, putting government services and information at the fingertips of citizens, said United States Chief Technology Officer Todd Park in a recent wide-ranging interview. ‘That's the first digital government result, outcome, and objective that's desired.’  To achieve that vision, Park and U.S. chief information officer Steven VanRoekel are working together to improve how government shares data, architects new digital services and collaborates across agencies to reduce costs and increase productivity through smarter use of information technology.  Park, who was chosen by President Obama to be the second CTO of the United States in March, has been (relatively) quiet over the course of his first two months on the job.  Last Wednesday, that changed. Park launched a new Presidential innovation Fellows program, in concert with VanRoekel's new digital government strategy, at TechCrunch's Disrupt conference in New York City. This was followed by another event for a government audience at the Interior Department headquarters in Washington, D.C. Last Friday, he presented his team's agenda to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. ‘The way I think about the strategy is that you're really talking about three elements,’ said Park, in our interview. ‘First, it's going mobile, putting government services at the literal fingertips of the people in the same way that basically every other industry and sector has done. Second, it's being smarter about how we procure technology as we move government in this direction. Finally, it's liberating data. In the end, it's the idea of government as a platform.'  In the context of the nation's new digital government strategy, Park announced the launch of five projects that this new class of Innovation Fellows will be entrusted with implementing: a broad Open Data Initiative, Blue Button for America, RFP-EZ, The 20% Campaign, and MyGov. The idea of the Presidential Innovation Fellows Program, said Park, is to bring in people from outside government to work with innovators inside the government. These agile teams will work together within a six-month time frame to deliver results.  The fellowships are basically scaling up the idea of ‘entrepreneurs in residence,’ said Park. ‘It's a portfolio of five projects that, on top of the digital government strategy, will advance the implementation of it in a variety of ways.’  The biggest challenge to bringing the five programs that the US CTO has proposed to successful completion is getting 15 talented men and women to join his team and implement them. There's reason for optimism. Park shared vie email that: ‘... within 24 hours of TechCrunch Disrupt, 600 people had already registered via Whitehouse.gov to apply to be a Presidential Innovation Fellow, and another several hundred people had expressed interest in following and engaging in the five projects in some other capacity...’ There appears to be considerable appetite for a different kind of public service that applies technology and data for the public good...”