White House IT Official Says Tech Key to Streamlining Government, Saving Money

The Obama Administration has started to close the gap between businesses and government in productivity, skills, and technology, federal chief information officer Steve VanRoekel said.

Using an overhead projector to illustrate how far technology has advanced, VanRoekel told an audience at an information technology conference in Washington that budget woes have forced the government to seek an innovative culture. Traditionally, businesses have used resources from existing or older programs to fuel new projects, he said. Government, on the other hand, often either can't or won't give up older programs. In order to develop new programs, government agencies have often simply increased their spending. Those days are over, VanRoekel said. "This is a model that hasn't worked," he said. "We need to innovate with less."

(April 3)