Federal CIO Drives Transparency With USAspending.gov

[Commentary] Federal CIO Vivek Kundra generated a tidal wave of headlines this summer when he unveiled, USAspending.gov, a new public Web site for tracking technology spending. Both The New York Times and The Washington Post, the nation's most prominent daily newspapers, covered his announcement, not to mention every technology-related publication and Web site, including www.govtech.com. When the national media starts focusing on the government CIO's role, you know the public perception of government and technology is about to change. This is a unique moment for the public-sector CIO community. For too long, CIOs have labored in government's boiler room, toiling away to connect the digital pipes, launching applications, and stitching together the bits and pieces of what we call e-government. Some CIOs have even managed to become influential IT strategists, sitting beside their elected CEO, and helping align policy, business and IT to make government more compatible with 21st-century America. But the CIO's role as utility player has been too common in government. Until now.