Speculation has been rampant about whether or not Obama will name–and Google CEO Eric Schmidt will accept–the newly created cabinet-level position of U.S. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the incoming Obama administration. Schmidt has been pretty clear about where he stands. “The answer is no,” he told Jim Cramer on CNBC recently. But others think another Googler may be on list: What about Vint Cerf? Could he be thinking about becoming Technology Evangelist for the White House?
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Cerf has been mentioned as a possibility “by many in the technology industry.” And a Google spokeswoman didn’t deny the rumor, but simply declined to comment. Of course, other technology gurus have also made the speculators’ short list. These include Julius Genachowski, a former IAC executive and Harvard law school pal of Obama’s, John Seely Brown, the former director of Xerox PARC, and Ed Felten, a computer science professor at Princeton University. Looking at the list, Cerf’s chances are probably remote.
But it would be an interesting choice. Cerf continues to be on the forefront of technology, the Internet and where we’re headed into the future. It would be nice if someone with lofty technology goals could dovetail those with Obama’s just-as-lofty goals for the country. But perhaps the administration should instead choose someone with their feet planted more firmly on the ground. As the Chronicle article quotes analyst Rebecca Wetteman, who cites the need to have someone who can coax the various government fiefdoms into line:
“They don’t need a person who is excited about shiny new objects, but someone who is successful delivering on complex projects,” she said.
Right. Nothing like the Internet.
